LIV Golf Announces New CEO to Replace Greg Norman
Scott O’Neil will replace Norman, and the new CEO told SI that he’s texted with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and looks forward to future discussions with the Tour.
The new CEO of LIV Golf has something the outgoing one never had—a relationship with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
Whether that means a faster road to possible peace in the game remains unclear, but Scott O’Neil is looking to put the acrimony behind and forge relationships going forward with all of the tours for the greater good of the game.
O’Neil, who was officially named chief operating officer of LIV Golf effective immediately, replaces golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman, who took on the role in the summer of 2021 along with the title of commissioner and helped launch the upstart circuit in 2022 amid plenty of rancor as some of the game’s top players signed lucrative deals and thus were denied their spots on the PGA Tour.
In a brief interview with Sports Illustrated, O’Neil said that Norman would “have some role” going forward with LIV Golf but that there would no longer be a commissioner position with the league.
O’Neil said that Norman has been “nothing but supportive” in their transition and that the two have been in contact daily over the last several weeks after it was first reported in October that Norman would be replaced. In an interview with SI at that time, Norman said his contract with LIV Golf is through August of this year.
LIV Golf starts its fourth season next month in Riyadh as negotiations—which have exceeded 18 months between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia— continue, with an expected cash investment in PGA Tour Enterprises along with some resolution to the conflicts which prohibit LIV players from competing in PGA Tour events.
O’Neil, without prompting, noted that he has “tremendous respect” for Monahan, who has been the PGA Tour commissioner since 2017 and helped broker a secret “framework agreement” with the PIF and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan in June 2023 that was shocking at the time given various lawsuits and bad blood that had resulted when LIV launched. Al-Rumayyan was quoted in the release announcing O’Neil’s official hiring.
