CEO Scott O’Neil set to break some eggs to take LIV Golf to the top of the pyramid
Temperatures may be lower these days compared with when the new league broke through, but there is no doubting the commitment to its mission
It is little more than a year since Scott O’Neil officially took over as LIV Golf CEO, brought in as the league’s calming influence following the whirlwind leadership of Greg Norman in the early days of disruption.
A business background where he led some of the world’s biggest companies in sport and entertainment also gives the American a certain credibility, one that has translated into partnerships with the likes of HSBC - title sponsors of this week’s event in Hong Kong - Rolex and Salesforce.
Not that O’Neil is beyond breaking a few eggs himself, but that less-combative approach appears to have made the circuit’s existence a bit more palatable to those with traditional tastes.
There is no guarantee that will last, and his assertion, in an interview with the South China Morning Post, that LIV will soon sit at the top of the golfing pyramid everywhere that is not North America, where the PGA Tour is king, is bound to ruffle feathers.
“In the US, the pyramid’s really clear; outside the US, the pyramid’s a little murky,” O’Neil said. “And we think over the next two, three, four years, it’s going to get a lot more clear.
“And we think that LIV Golf sits on top of the pyramid.”
