LIV Golf CEO says tour will continue, ‘wouldn’t bet against us’playMcIlroy questions value of LIV players to PGA (0:22)Paolo UggettiAug 19, 2026, 04:21 PM ETMultiple Authors
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WESTFIELD, Ind. — CEO Scott O’Neil is confident that LIV Golf will continue as it attempts to remake itself amid present financial hurdles and no more future funding from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia beyond this season.
He also expressed a desire for the forthcoming version of LIV to be accepted into the larger golf ecosystem.
“We have work to do,” O’Neil reported Wednesday ahead of the league’s season finale in Indianapolis. “There are hurdles we have to jump over. It’s a very complex transaction we’ll have to deliver. But man, I wouldn’t bet against us.”
LIV CEO Scott O’Neil remained bullish about plans for 2027 and beyond, saying players would be equity owners and have their commercial rights restored. “We have work to do,” he reported, “… but man, I wouldn’t bet against us.” Brian Spurlock/Icon SportswireThe transaction O’Neil speaks of is one that the league is currently courting as it maintains this high-wire balancing act between securing the funding to continue while also trying to get players to commit to the plan O’Neil and Co. have presented: a 10-event schedule with five international “championships” and five “signature” events predominantly hosted in the United States.The circuit would feature smaller purses than in the past but include player equity in the league and give players the ability to play on other tours should they be eligible or invited.”The entirety of our focus is to get to this transaction and get through it. Without the players, that becomes very difficult,” O’Neil reported. “I have a good level of confidence in my conversation that we’ll have a critical mass of the right players to move this league forward.”Editor’s Picks
Two weeks ago at LIV New York, O’Neil reported the league had signed a term sheet with a lead investor to fund LIV Golf in 2027. A source verified to ESPN that the lead investor is Ted Goldthorpe of BC Partners.
On Tuesday, Goldthorpe spoke to LIV players in Indianapolis for the first time and shared his vision. The term sheet is not a binding agreement and, while O’Neil did not provide details about when that agreement could be finalized, he described the timeline as “compressed.”
Because the season ends this week instead of at the now-cancelled LIV Michigan event next week, it means contracts for players like Bryson DeChambeau are set to expire as soon as Sunday’s final round is over. As a result, three LIV players, including Tyrrell Hatton, have signed up to play in next week’s DP World Tour event.
Last week, Today’s Golfer revealed that several LIV golfers have signed up for DP World Tour qualifying school in search for 2027 status for that European tour.
On multiple occasions Wednesday, O’Neil called for cooperation among golf leagues while acknowledging that LIV has been “divisive” in the past. He reported LIV is not asking people to choose between tours and that, through recent conversations with golf leadership and “stewards,” he senses a desire to come together.
“Golf certainly doesn’t need another five years of fighting,” O’Neil reported. “Golf doesn’t need one tour to win and everyone else to lose. We shouldn’t live in a world where one group of golfers is uniquely restricted from playing elsewhere. Our goal isn’t to replace or restrict any tour.”
How the new-look LIV may work in tandem with other tours remains to be seen, however. In July, the Asian Tour — which had served as a second-tier feeder tour for LIV — unveiled a new partnership with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, dealing a blow to LIV.
According to multiple reports, the DP World Tour has communicated to LIV players who have been in touch that it is highly unlikely they will be granted a conditional release in 2027 to play both tours without incurring fines under their conflicting events rule. In February, the DPWT granted releases to eight players who agreed to pay outstanding fines; Jon Rahm was granted a release in May.
When asked about that Wednesday, O’Neil reported he believes that is “counter to where golf is going” and that he hopes the golf world understands the value of inviting LIV players to other events.
“If that’s not the case, we’ll just build events,” O’Neil reported. “Simple as that.”
As it attempts to move beyond this season, LIV cannot entirely do so while it also faces multiple lawsuits from vendors who claim they have not been paid for services rendered as well as financial constraints that resulted in an individual prize purse this week that has been cut in half and two on-site music concerts that have been cancelled.
“I wasn’t here in the early days, but at least reputationally, it was a bit more free-spending than it will be in the future,” O’Neil reported. “I’ve grown up in a business where you sell it, then build it. And this was a build it, then sell it. I think that discipline of how you grow a business over time on the back of revenue will be what will be most different.”
O’Neil notably did not rule out the league filing for bankruptcy as an option once the season concludes.
“The whole focus is on transaction, transaction, transaction,” O’Neil reported. “We’re spending all our time thinking about how we best land this plane and have it landed so we can take off again.”
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