After a months-long search, LIV Golf has settled upon its new chief executive officer.
Multiple reports indicate that Scott O’Neil, who held the same title for the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils from 2013 and 2021, will succeed Norman as the commissioner of LIV Golf. Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal had it first.
O’Neil most recently served as CEO of Merlin Entertainments, a London-based theme-park conglomerate. But now he will join LIV and replace outgoing CEO Greg Norman, who will move into a new senior advisory role within the Saudi-backed circuit. How much influence Norman will have in 2025 and beyond remains unclear.
Of course, the PGA Tour is currently in talks with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), working on how to structure the sport’s future. PGA brass, spearheaded by Commissioner Jay Monahan, former board member Jimmy Dunne, and Policy Board Chairman Ed Herlihy, shockingly announced a framework agreement with the PIF on Jun. 6, 2023. That deal settled all lawsuits and set the course for both parties to strike a concrete, nuanced agreement to settle golf’s current schism between the tour and LIV.
In the days after the framework agreement became public, reports emerged that Monahan would take over as LIV’s de facto commissioner and have the final say about its future. But no such instance has transpired.
Instead, LIV has continued to grow, wrapping up its third full year of operations in 2024—a year that included the additions of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. Bryson DeChambeau, LIV’s biggest star, shined at the U.S. Open.
The league has already announced a robust 2025 schedule, which again includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Adelaide, Hong Kong, and Singapore. The circuit also added events in South Korea and Indianapolis.
As for Norman, his role as the CEO of LIV since its launch in 2022 has been polarizing. Norman has sometimes acted belligerently, expressing hostility towards the PGA Tour. But that’s not to say those from the tour are innocent, either. Numerous stakeholders on the PGA Tour side have publically called for Norman’s ousting.
“Greg has to go, first of all,” said Tiger Woods ahead of the 2022 Hero World Challenege.
“Then we can talk freely, to say the least.”
Rory McIlroy agrees.
“I have spent time with [PIF Governor] Yasir al-Rumayyan, and the people that have represented him in LIV, I think, have done him a disservice, so [Greg] Norman and those guys,” McIlroy said after his final round at the 2024 Players Championship.
“I see the two entities, and I think there’s a really big disconnect between PIF and LIV. I think you got PIF over here, and LIV is sort of over here doing its own thing. So the closer we [as the PGA Tour can] get to Yasir, PIF and hopefully finalize that investment, I think that will be a really good thing.”
Norman has long envisioned a global tour of top players akin to what LIV has developed into today. He initially laid out his plans for a worldwide league in the mid-1990s, which Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer scoffed at, per Alan Shipnuck’s LIV and Let Die. McIlroy has called for something similar, but his disdain for Norman remains.
Perhaps Norman leaving his post as CEO may speed up negotiations between the PIF and the PGA Tour. After all, Mets Owner Steve Cohen expressed further confidence in a deal getting done this week.
That said, it remains unclear how O’Neill’s appointment as CEO will impact these discussions—if at all. But LIV has a new commissioner, one not as polarizing as Norman, which should only help things going forward.
O’Neill’s appointment as the new chief executive also signifies that LIV does not plan to go anywhere anytime soon.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
