LIV Golf and its new CEO, Scott O’Neil, were in the spotlight for much of last week as fans once again flocked to the league’s popular event in Adelaide, Australia, amid conversation about reunification in the men’s pro game.
The week began with the R&A announcing that it would grant an Open Championship exemption to a leading LIV player and ended with the league announcing an extension of its LIV Golf Adelaide tournament through 2031. In between, O’Neil waxed optimistically about LIV Golf’s future as his PGA Tour counterpart, commissioner Jay Monahan, signaled progress in his circuit’s negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund toward an agreement that could pave the way for reunification.
“For us at LIV, we are hoping that that unlocks opportunity,” O’Neil said during a pretournament press conference in Australia. “That may unlock opportunity with markets, with courses, with marketing partners, with television networks, with growing the game, with competition opportunities, with new formats. So I’m excited about the agreement. I think that right now we are going to the moon and back, and I hope that’ll help as an accelerant, but I’m very confident in where we are in this business and the interest we have currently.”
O’Neil also clarified former LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman’s continuing role with the league as a board member and hailed his contributions. “It’s quite a gift to have him as part of LIV,” he said.
In an interview with Australian Golf Digest published Saturday, O’Neil voiced a desire to establish LIV Golf events in Japan and mainland China and broached the possibility of entering the women’s professional game, revealing an ongoing dialogue with interim LPGA commissioner Liz Moore.
But what O’Neil paints as a growing LIV foothold in golf has come at tremendous cost to its benefactor, Saudi Arabia’s PIF. Citing 2023 financial figures LIV Golf’s United Kingdom arm filed last week, the online Money in Sport newsletter reported “staggering” losses and PIF capital injections totaling $1 billion. READ MORE
Three days after committing to play in the Genesis Invitational, the PGA Tour event he hosts, Tiger Woods withdrew, explaining that he was still processing the loss of his mother, Kultida, who died on Feb. 4.
The tournament, which was moved from Riviera Country Club to Torrey Pines Golf Course in the wake of the wildfires that engulfed the Los Angeles area, paid tribute to Kultida Woods with a white pin flag on the seventh hole, a gesture intended to honor Kultida’s Buddhist heritage. On Saturday, it was announced that Woods would play in his TGL match Tuesday in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. READ MORE
Retired European Solheim Cup standout Suzann Pettersen made an appearance at the Ladies European Tour’s PIF Saudi Ladies International last week, though not in a playing capacity. Pettersen was representing her new business venture, a talent management agency focused on representing female athletes called VOXA.
The firm, which counts sports and entertainment agency 54 as a partner, launched last week with five players: China’s Ruoning Yin, Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, Mexico’s Gaby Lopez, Singapore’s Shannon Tan and Malaysia’s Ashley Lau. READ MORE
World No. 2 Xander Schauffele, who has been sidelined from the PGA Tour with a rib injury since the season-opening Sentry tournament in Hawaii in January, is aiming to return at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which starts March 6 at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida.
“I want to get as many reps under the belt before the Masters,” Schauffele told Golfweek. “It would be nice to get the competitive blood flowing a few times before going into a really big event and also have the Players coming up.” READ MORE
Tap-Ins
The LPGA confirmed Thursday that it will implement a new pace-of-play policy starting March 27 at the Ford Championship. The policy will also apply on the developmental Epson Tour. The policy had been previously reported by GGP and other media outlets. READ MORE
Longtime caddie Mike “Fluff” Cowan, best known for his time on the bags of Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk, returned to caddie for Billy Andrade at the PGA Tour Champions Chubb Classic last week following a six-month absence due to hip-replacement surgery. READ MORE
The USGA announced qualifying sites for the 2025 U.S. Open and U.S. Women’s Open. The U.S. Open is slated for June 12-15 at Oakmont Country Club near Pittsburgh, and the U.S. Women’s Open will be staged May 29-June 1 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.
Compiled by Mike Cullity