LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has been in the job 90 days but the next four are among the most important he has faced so far.

Why? It’s LIV Golf’s first tournament in the U.S. after the first four stops on the globetrotting league’s schedule were held in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

One week before the 89th, where 12 LIV golfers will tee it up, LIV returns to Trump Doral in Miami, a former PGA Tour host venue that has been a regular stop since hosting the league’s inaugural season finale in 2022. Earlier in 2025, LIV signed a multi-year deal with Fox to broadcast its 14-event, 54-hole tournaments but this will be the first event on eastern time.

O’Neil, a New York native and former CEO of companies and organisations such as Merlin Entertainment and the Philadelphia 76ers, sat down in a boardroom with reporters at Doral on Wednesday. He touched on several topics.

“I had really high expectations coming in, coming into a three-year-old league. Remember, I’ve worked at other sports leagues, and I shudder to think what the NBA was like in Year 3. What was the NFL like in Year 3? I was in the NFL in 1994 when I first went to the Eagles and … we still had the [old school] video [projector],” he said. “What we have been able to build in three year—I recognise that there’s some conflict and change—but I’m feeling [good] with the arc of momentum. [But] it doesn’t mean we’re a finished product.”

The hottest topic in professional golf is how the framework agreement between the league’s financiers, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and PGA Tour Enterprises, is progressing. O’Neil’s attitude was that while the deal would be “nice,” the league doesn’t see it as an absolute necessity unless it is done right. O’Neil revealed he has known PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan for “a long time” but hadn’t seen him in person since he started with LIV.

“If the deal can help grow the game of golf, I’ll jump in with two feet and so, ‘Have to do a deal?’ No. ‘Nice to do a deal?’ So long as we’re all focused on the same thing, which is growing the game of golf. I think we’re all up for it,” O’Neil said. “I love our prospects.”

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Zhizhao Wu

In his first three months, two things that stood out to O’Neil: the competitive drive of LIV’s 54-player roster and commercial milestones like the first mainstream TV deal.

“Another surprise was the welcome I got from the majors,” he said, referring to Augusta National, the PGA of America, USGA and R&A. “I was in hockey and basketball and … they couldn’t be any more different [to golf]. It took me a year and a half and in hockey for them to stop calling me a basketball guy. For me and to walk into golf and be so graciously welcomed, that surprised me.”

O’Neil was referring to Derek Sprague (PGA), Mike Whan (USGA), Mark Darbon (R&A) and Fred Ridley (Augusta National). And there has been some progress in addressing the dwindling access to the majors for LIV players considering their league does not receive Official World Golf Ranking points, which is a key to earning exemptions into majors. Earlier this year, the USGA and R&A announced they would offer LIV Golf one spot in each field of the U.S. Open and Open Championship.

Asked what else was “welcoming,” about the majors, O’ Neil said it was regular dialogue. He has also been officially invited to next week’s Masters.

“Well, I went to go see them, so that’s a start.” he said. “In some cases, I just showed up. We were supposed to play at St. Andrews, but there was like tornado winds and I was like, ‘Can I just hit a ball?!’ I text all of them pretty regularly. We talk on the phone relatively regularly.”

He also pointed to the recent International Series event in Macau, which is part of an Asian Tour series that partners with LIV Golf. The tournament was included in the R&A’s Open Qualifying Series and was awarded three spots to the top finishers into the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. Those spots were earned by Macau winner Carlos Ortiz, Patrick Reed and Jason Kokrak—all LIV players.

“Not only the spots, but what he did for us in Macau was like, that’s more than an olive branch, that’s a warm hug,” O’Neil said. “I hope it continues. I hope we can find some pathways to have more of our players who I think should have the platform [at the majors] because I think they’re good enough.”

O’Neil also expressed a strong belief that the league’s top stars who joined from the PGA Tour—including recent major winners Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith—would remain with LIV while renegotiating their contract renewals.

“I’ll say that any sports league, there are a few things you have to get right, and one of them is to get the talent competition. So we’re focused on that. I’m very confident that we’ll have the right field here for a really long time,” he said.

Which brings the league to this week at Doral. The Blue Monster course was the host of a PGA Tour event for a long time. Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have won at the water-laden Miami area layout. With a celebrated tournament venue, and a mainstream TV deal in place, LIV Golf is looking at its third edition at Doral as an important week.

O’Neil noted that although ratings were low for its first four events, all were held in the middle of the night in the U.S. Fox saw 85,000 viewers for LIV Golf Riyadh, while Adelaide drew 249,000 viewers, Hong Kong 29,000 and Singapore 34,000.

“Would I want more people watching us? Of course,” O’Neil said. “Is that part of my job? Yes, it is. And I have no problem being judged. Judge me this week for sure in the U.S. But I’ll tell you, two and a half million people watched that Riyadh [season opening] event … not in the U.S. but we’re a global sports league. We’re [similar to the] F1 of golf, and F1, I’d imagine, has more people watching in [Asia-Pacific] when they’re in Singapore than they do when they’re in Miami.”

Main Image: Zhizhao Wu