LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has responded to McIlroy’s comments on the league’s spending and the division in the sport
10:42 ET, 08 Dec 2025Updated 10:44 ET, 08 Dec 2025
Scott O’Neil responds to McIlroy’s comments on LIV golf’s finances(Image: Getty Images)
LIV Golf’s CEO Scott O’Neil is fighting for his league’s status in the golf world, but he has no interest in picking a fight with superstar Rory McIlroy.
LIV has applied twice to be a part of the Official World Golf Rankings and even changed its format from the 54-hole, no-cut, closed-field model. Being a part of the OWGR would help the circuit’s players earn chances to play in majors and bring LIV one step closer to being considered a ‘regular’ golf Tour.
The Saudi-backed circuit has also invested plenty in adding players such as Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm to join, but Rory McIlroy believes it’s the large spending that’s created a separation between LIV and other tours.
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“You see some of these other sports that have been fractured for so long,” McIlroy told CNBC. “You look at boxing for example, or you look at what’s happened in motor racing in the United States with Indy and Nascar and everything else, I think for golf in general it would be better if there was unification.
“But I just think with what’s happened over the last few years, it’s just going to be very difficult to be able to do that.”
McIlroy says LIV golf’s spending is out of control and causing larger separation
O’Neil did not want to get involved in an argument with McIlroy, as he stayed neutral with his response to the World No. 2.
“Rory has had an extraordinary career and is an extraordinary player,” said O’Neil. “I’ve met him a couple of times, but I don’t know him so don’t really want to comment. All I will say is I am working every day to create the greatest sports league in the world.
“We have players who are committed and our players commit to a different level of travel.”
McIlroy believes LIV’s spending has spun out of control.
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“As someone who supports the traditional structure of men’s professional golf, we have to realize we were trying to deal with people that were acting, in some ways, irrationally, just in terms of the capital they were allocating and the money they were spending,” McIlroy said late November.
“It’s been four or five years and there hasn’t been a return yet but they’re going to have to keep spending that money to even just maintain what they have right now.
“A lot of these guys’ contracts are up. They’re going to ask for the same number or an even bigger number. LIV have spent five or six billion US dollars and they’re going to have to spend another five or six just to maintain where they are.
“I’m way more comfortable being on the PGA Tour side than on their side but who knows what’ll happen.”
O’Neil has applied for OWGR and is just steps closer to earning it
O’Neil said that some of the spending was out of his control before his arrival and that he’s hired a team to sort out the finances.
“I only have an 11-month view. I wasn’t here when they had to do what they had to do to set LIV up, I wasn’t here when some of the madness in the ecosystem was happening.
“I only know from the first day of January when I showed up, I have hired a business team that I would argue is second to none in terms of commercial acumen. So I like what we do and how we do it.
“I feel like there’s a good opportunity to have plenty of growth in markets like Australia, Korea, the UK, North America, South Africa, Mexico, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Singapore. I know I am in the market. There are golf fans everywhere.”
