LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil Talks About Structural Changes Amidst Reports of Closure of PIF-Backed Tour

Amid reports of LIV Golf closing down, CEO Scott O'Neil spoke about the future of the league and pointed out some structural changes.

LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil Talks About Structural Changes Amidst Reports of Closure of PIF-Backed Tour

Scott O'Neil (Image via X/@MirrorUSSports)

In the past few days, there have been several reports about the closure of the LIV Golf league. In the midst of this, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil on Thursday expressed that there will be some structural changes coming to the Public Investment Fund (PIF) backed tour.

Following the conclusion of the 2026 Masters on Sunday, speculations emerged that the PIF of Saudi Arabia was thinking of pulling the plug on the league. The PIF has been the major financial backer of the breakaway league that was founded in 2021 and played its first event in June 2022.

According to reports from The Financial Times, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia was on the verge of cutting the funding of LIV Golf. The report on Tuesday expressed that this could come as soon as Thursday.

According to reports from The Athletic, the high-level executives of LIV Golf had begun searching for new jobs with the future of the league in doubt. As per Bret Baier of Fox News, the Saudis are reported to be willing to fund for the sport until the end of the current 2026 season.

With the whole golfing world talking about LIV Golf’s imminent future, CEO Scott O’Neil sat down for an interview with commentator Arlo White. During this, the former NFL executive expressed that there would be some structural changes coming to the league in the future.

How we go forward is what I’m really excited about. I talked about some structural changes. They’re coming. You can add just about the 50 people I met in Augusta. I rolled out the plan. We have one, and it is, it’s gonna, it might surprise some people.

Scott O’Neil said regarding the future of LIV Golf

LIV Golf was founded in 2021 with 2-time major champion Greg Norman serving as the CEO. The formation of the league created a massive divide in the world of golf as several high-profile names like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Bryson DeChambeau left them for big-money deals.

Unlike the PGA Tour and other tours, the breakaway tour adapted a unique 54-hole format with no cuts and introduced the team format. After the conclusion of the 2025 season, the league announced adapting to the 72-hole format and playing 4 rounds of golf.

This year, the league also started receiving Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR) points. Before this, their application for the ranking points was rejected, leaving their players with no points and falling in the world standings.

LIV Golf suffers major broadcast failure during Mexico event

LIV Golf is currently going through a difficult period. There have been several reports claiming that the league could soon be shut down. Amidst this, the league suffered a major broadcasting failure on Thursday during the Mexico event.

LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil (Image via Bloomberg)

On Thursday, the league concluded the first round of the LIV Golf Mexico event at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico. During this, a power issue would cause a shutdown in production.

Fans, who tried to tune in, would receive a “Technical Difficulties, Please Standby” message on their screens. With how things had gone in the past few days, this development was the last thing they wanted.

Almost 2 hours later, the broadcast would return. The announcers would apologize for this and point out a severe power outage as a reason for this.

Speaking of the first round, Frenchman Victor Perez ended the day top of the standings. His 9-under par score saw him finish 3 strokes ahead of Jon Rahm, who carded a 6-under par score. Meanwhile, defending champion Joaquin Niemann was 2-under par for the day despite recording an ace on the very first hole of the round.

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