Scott O’Neil Says He’s “Meant for This Moment” of Uncertainty With LIV Golf

POTOMAC FALLS, Va. — LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil finally addressed the media Tuesday morning at LIV Golf Virginia for the first time since the PIF formally announced that they will no longer be backing LIV Golf beyond this season.

The room felt it. Not tense exactly, but heavier than usual. About 40 reporters filled the seats, with LIV staff and team personnel lining the back wall of the indoor tennis facility that’s doubling as the media center this week. O’Neil sat on the podium next to LIV’s Chief Communications Officer Ilana Finley who led the questioning to start.

O’Neil didn’t come out swinging. Instead, he opened by wishing the room a happy early Mother’s Day and asking reporters to text their moms before launching into a story about two shoe salesmen—one who saw a market with no shoes as a failure, the other as an opportunity.

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It was a clear signal: this was going to be framed as the latter. O’Neil’s tone stayed upbeat as he pivoted to the players, emphasizing their role as partners in the league.

“From a player standpoint, I've never experienced anything like having players as partners. From a business standpoint, the momentum is pretty special,” O’Neil said, adding later on in the interview, "I understand where some of your emotions are, mine are in a can do: Let's get the plan set, let's surround ourselves with extraordinary talent, and let's get after it.”

That optimism was quickly tested when the conversation turned to the league’s financial uncertainty.

"This moment for me...I understand uncertainty is difficult for some people, and I understand that not knowing what tomorrow brings can be a challenge,” O’Neil said. “This is 100 percent what I love to do, this moment. Everybody is meant for a certain thing in their life. I believe this is what I am meant for. I love this moment.”

When asked about how to reset with another business model, O’Neil kept it general and repeatedly framed the situation as an opportunity to reset the business rather than a threat to its future.

“First and foremost, we need to get the players settled, on board, and focusing on golf,” O’Neil said. "Secondly, we have to create a plan that's a business plan, a business that works from a business standpoint, from a profit and loss standpoint, like every other business in the world, and we are well on our way to that.”

Behind the scenes, LIV has already started that process. Just last week, LIV added a partnership with Alix Partners, a restructuring firm to help them overhaul their business model and secure external investment. O’Neil addressed that decision Tuesday morning naming the partnership's purpose as “tuning our business plan to make this a business, outstanding,”

“In terms of pushing, prodding, making sure we have the longest runway we could possibly have. They are extraordinary advisers," O’Neil said.

O’Neil also mentioned their longtime partnership law firms like Gibson Dunn and Ducera Partners as a key for their strategic development over these next crucial months as well. And while contracts are certainly a topic widely discussed at this stage in the LIV timeline and these partners will no doubt have a heavy involvement, O’Neil doubled down on his vision for LIV. Even as the topic of speculation about whether players might leave LIV after 2026 came up, O’Neil put a positive spin on that possibility.

“I believe that when we have a business plan and we raise money, that this is the place the players will choose? I do. I know these players. I know their caddies. I know their spouses, their girlfriends, partners, I know their kids, and this is a place that golfers want to play,” O’Neil said.

“This is a really, really special community, and it's different. In the most important sport in the world, it's also the loneliest sport in the world, and this is a place where you show up like family. So I have a lot of confidence that this is a place that players want to be.”

That confidence will be tested in the months ahead as LIV works to secure new funding and define what the next version of the league looks like.

In the meantime, the clock is ticking.

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