LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil joined Al Arabiya English’s Joanne Serrieh for an exclusive interview in Riyadh during the LIV Golf season opener to reflect on his first year in the role and the league’s rapid global expansion.
O’Neil discusses LIV Golf’s vision for growing the game worldwide, Saudi Arabia’s emergence as a major golf hub, and what makes playing under the lights in Riyadh a unique experience for players and fans. He also addresses recent developments around the Official World Golf Ranking, describing the decision to award limited ranking points as a “vote of confidence,” while calling aspects of the system “unprecedented.”
The interview also touches on prize money increases, team ownership interest, LIV Golf’s growing digital and social media presence, and where things stand with PGA Tour merger talks.
ON LIV GOLF BEING RESTRICTED BY THE OFFICIAL WORLD GOLF RANKINGS: “Can you imagine the commission of the PGA, the head of the DP World Tour, and so, from our perspective, what a great vote of confidence for them to say, "Okay, we'll give you points."
“Now, on the other hand, it's a bit unprecedented. You know, in every other event that they have across the hundreds of tours that they sanction. If there are no cuts, only 15% of the field gets no points. In our case, it's 82% of the field. So that didn't feel great, you know. And I'm hoping that this is the first step of many steps up the flight of stairs where we'll actually be ranked and recognized, where we actually should be, which I think is the greatest, deepest, most talented, strongest strength of field, international golf in the world.”
ON THE LIV GOLF / PGA TOUR MERGER AND NEGOTIATIONS: “The PGA Tour is a tremendous tour. I think their entire focus is on the US. So, strategically, it would make sense if we're the dominant tour outside the US and we continue to have talks back and forth. Sometimes they heat up, sometimes they slow down, but our entire focus right now is starting this season.”
ON THE PRIZE FUND: “Prize money has also been enhanced this year. Individual purses remain at, you know, substantial $20 million per event. Team prize money has doubled, yes, 5 million to 10 million per tournament. That's quite an incentive to do well. Well, it's pretty good to be a professional golfer these days. You know, can you imagine showing up for your day job and playing for $30 million over the course of a weekend? It's not too bad.”
ON THIS BEING THE BEGINNING FOR ONE OF THE MOST DOMINANT GLOBAL SPORTS LEAGUE IN THE WORLD: “For us, this is such an evolution of progress. And I think you've just started to see the early beginnings of what's going to be the most dominant global sports league in the world."
ON LIV GOLF BEING HELD IN SAUDI ARABIA AND WHAT MAKES IT UNIQUE: “We will be in Riyadh until the end of time. This is an emerging golf market. Absolutely, if you come out and see and experience LIV Golf in Riyadh, you will see like nothing you've ever quite seen before. It's LIV at night. So we play under the lights, which is really special and very unique to golf. It's the only major tournament ever to be played under the lights.”
WHAT MAKES SAUDI SO SPECIAL FOR LIV AND WHAT TO EXPECT: “It's a market of opportunity and growth, and it's certainly one of the fastest growing golf markets in the world. There's a carnival-like atmosphere. There's an incredible family zone. There's a laser light show at night. I mean, it is something absolutely spectacular. We have an incredible lineup of concerts. So whether you you love golf and you're hardcore golfer, whether you're just learning to play, whether you watch it on on television, whether you watch Bryson DeChambeau on YouTube videos, or whether you just, you know, interested in coming out with your friends or family and have a good time. This is the place to be.”
ON PLAYERS SOCIAL MEDIA ACCESS AND CHANNELS GROWING WITH AMBASSADORS FOR GOLF ONLINE: “I think what you've seen for the first time in golf, for sure, as you're seeing, most of the personalities who matter have congregated into one league, and that's LIV. And with that, there's so much personality and so much fun, and social media, and particularly YouTube golf, has absolutely taken off, but their Instagram channels are just as good.
“Phil Mickelson is another one. He's 55 years old, and he's embraced Grant Horvath and grown his channel at a rapid, rapid rate. And so I think it really... it's fun, and sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's instructive, but probably most importantly to me, is it, it locks in right on our mission, and that's to grow the game.
“And so sometimes we grow the game by the incredible fans that will come out this weekend. Other times we'll, you know, travel in the airport, we'll meet fans. Other times it's, during practice rounds, we get the chance to reach an event with kids and sometimes it's social media and however, we can inspire the next generation of golfers in the world.”
Joanne Serrieh is a seasoned multimedia journalist and the Website Editor at Al Arabiya English, where she leads digital newsroom strategy and content for one of the Middle East’s most influential English-language news platforms.
Based in Riyadh and originally from Sacramento, California, Serrieh holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and brings more than a decade of experience across global newsrooms, shaping editorial direction and telling stories that resonate across regions from Riyadh to London and the United States. Al Arabiya English is the leading source of news and opinion from the Middle East for English-speaking audiences around the world.
It is a 24-hour digital news platform publishing breaking news, politics, business, features, opinion and lifestyle. With a headquarters in Riyadh and correspondents across the region, Al Arabiya English presents a globalised view of the Arab world to audiences across five continents.