LIV Golf’s future hangs in the balance as the Saudi Public Investment Fund will withdraw its support of the tour at the end of this season.
Despite previously saying that LIV is funded through 2032, CEO Scott O’Neil has retracted that statement, instead revealing that the tour is only funded to the end of the 2026 season, which concludes in August.
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That gives the tour just months to find new financial backing, which is a tall task considering the millions of dollars they are losing every single year. And with Bryson DeChambeau’s contract ending this year, there is so much uncertainty about LIV Golf’s future.
Former CEO Greg Norman, who was the face of the league when it was first founded, reflected on the state of his former employer and said if he thinks they can secure new funding.
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA TOUR
Greg Norman says LIV’s future depends on Scott O’Neil
Norman, who was replaced as CEO by O’Neil last year, weighed in on the state of LIV Golf as it stares down extinction.
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Speaking on Dan on Golf, the two-time major winner was asked if he thinks LIV can secure new funding, and he answered: “That will depend on Scott O’Neil. I read his comments saying that he will go out and raise money ourselves. LIV has to do that.
“Basically, he has got to get out there on the street now and do a road show, and he has got to see if he can dilute some of the PIF funding down to somewhere else.
“Getting a US financial institution coming in would be very advantageous. No different to what has happened with SSG and the PGA Tour. That would be very advantageous to them.”
The next few months will be the most important in LIV’s short existence. Either it finds new funding, or it falls by the wayside as a relic of golfing history.
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Greg Norman shares honest opinion on Scottie Scheffler not playing outside of the US
As an international player, Norman found playing golf outside the States vitally important. He won 70 times across different tours worldwide. That’s also become the main selling point of LIV, as O’Neil is attempting to turn it into the world’s golf tour.
That’s the main differentiator between LIV and the PGA Tour, which nearly exclusively operates as an American tour. And the world number one, Scottie Scheffler, very rarely played abroad.
That’s a different approach to former world number ones, as Tiger Woods ranks third all-time in wins on the European Tour. Norman shared his thoughts on Scheffler’s unwillingness to venture outside of the USA.
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He said, “It’s interesting, but it’s the player’s choice. That is what I love. To me, that’s free agency; you can make your decision where you want to go.
“It’s like with the LIV players, we told them when they signed up, you are under contract with LIV. Once your obligations under that contract are done, if you put a pair of jeans on and a white t-shirt, go out and do whatever you want to do. That is your IP. You control that. We gave them that opportunity to do that.
“With Scottie he is very happy with the life he is in, which I respect. But when you are me, it’s a different story. I had to leave Australia to come to America to be successful, so my obligation was to go back to Australia, up into Asia and into Europe to try and grow the game as much as I could.”
Norman has always preached free agency as the CEO of LIV, and that applies to players on the PGA Tour too. While Scheffler not playing outside of the States isn’t what’s best for golf worldwide, it’s his right to play where he wants, according to the Australian.
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