LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has plenty on his agenda at this moment in time, including its relationship with the PGA Tour.
O’Neil is friends with PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, who has recently taken over in the role from Jay Monahan.
PGA Tour star Tiger Woods thanked Monahan for his efforts, with Rolapp now the man tasked with taking the product further.
And O’Neil finds himself in the same situation on LIV Golf, having taken over as its chief from Greg Norman.
The recent appointments come as the PGA Tour and LIV Golf continue on without any confirmation of a merger.
Photo by Lauren Sopourn/Getty ImagesLIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil predicts what the PGA Tour will look like in five years
At the same time, they continue to go their separate ways, with Brandel Chamblee told a PGA Tour and LIV Golf merger won’t happen.
On a related note, O’Neil has just been tasked with predicting the sport’s future, having been asked the question on The Rick Shiels Golf Show: “What do you see golf looking at in five years?”
He replied: “I think LIV Golf will have a dominant position in global golf. It will be the place you go to for golf. I think the PGA Tour will always be and always have a stronghold in the US. I really do.
READ MORE: Scott O’Neil drops a hint about the LIV Golf futures of Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson
“I made this analogy once and it wasn’t really well received. I really believe it’s like NASCAR and F1. I like NASCAR and it’s like they have 42 events in the US.
“Whether they shrink that number, the general consensus is they will shrink the events they have to get more of their players playing in the same event, because they sprinkle their 130 guys across 42 events.
“Some events have a lot of the stars and some don’t have as many. So I think they will shrink their events and for the foreseeable future have a dominant position in the US. I think we will be the dominant player in the world.”
O’Neil also responded when asked where is next for LIV, saying: “I would love to explore the continent of Africa and the South American continent. Those are two places I think LIV Golf should be.”
Scott O’Neil says if ‘big name players’ are reaching out to him after LIV Golf move
What the future of golf looks like remains to be seen, but O’Neil will certainly be a key player in whatever comes next.
But many golf fans are undoubtedly getting frustrated with the lack of concrete action between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.
READ MORE: Scott O’Neil told he should be absolutely furious about what happened with LIV Golf Dallas last weekend
And many players may be having similar thoughts, having been left in the dark on a potential merger for some time now.
The PGA Tour continues this week with the John Deere Classic, with LIV Golf Andalucia taking place later this month.
We’re excited to welcome Scott O’Neil as our new CEO! 👏
With 25+ years leading iconic teams like the Knicks, 76ers, Rangers, and Eagles—and venues like MSG—Scott’s ready to take LIV Golf to the next level.
Welcome to the team! 🙌#LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/Ha94zwT2kk
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) January 15, 2025
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And that continues the current situation of the top players from the rival tours only coming together at the four major championships, of which there is only one remaining this season.
And recently taking on both The Masters and the US Open was Josele Ballester, who signed up to LIV Golf just last month, while Tom McKibbin left the PGA Tour for the Saudi-backed tour at the start of the season.
The former was referenced by O’Neil when he was asked if any new big name players are eager to join LIV, where the CEO replied: “Not a question I will probably answer.
“But I will say this. I will say there was a big active negotiation and we stood down over the last year, it predates me.
“As that starts to come to finality. We have relegation in our league, so the bottom six players come out. So we have to replace those players.
“It is up to us to figure out how many of them are the next young Josele and how many of them are 20 something and young 30 somethings. We are going through that process now.”
And when asked if big name players are messaging him, O’Neil said: “Fortunately the golf world is really small and the elite fields, the really two elite fields now, are the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. So if people are open to it they oftentimes reach out to me or someone on my team.”
