LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil compares circuit to Tennis while applauding the 'world-class' Australian Open

LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil drew a comparison between LIV Golf and Tennis while applauding the Australian Open. O’Neil is the new LIV CEO after replacing Greg Norman, who has backed the breakaway league since its inception. After acquiring his new position, the sports executive attended the LIV Golf Adelaide pre-tournament press conference.

In the presser, O’Neil was asked what was the vision of LIV Golf as the first true global golf league. He responded by saying( via ASAP Sports):

“You don't have to look too far past tennis. I always think about how do you look at other sports as models, and I think the Australian Open here is a good example with tennis. It's a world-class event, and for a moment, the tennis world starts and stops here, and golf seems to be very centered on the United States.”

“Yet when you look at the golf world and you look at Australia and the UK and Hong Kong and Singapore and all the incredible cities where we're blessed to go play, Riyadh last week, we're taking the game to the world where golf fans around the world want to see the greatest players on the biggest stages," O'Neil added.

The LIV Golf Adelaide will take place at the Grange Golf Club this weekend and around 54 LIV golfers will tee up for the Australian event. This is the third year of the Adelaide tournament, which gathers the highest number of crowds every year. The event debuted in 2023 when Talor Gooch was triumphant.

Scott O'Neil replaced Greg Norman for the LIV Golf CEO position

In January, Scott O'Neil took the place of LIV Golf CEO and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who is the LIV Golf board’s chairman said in an interview that O’Neil had the passion and tenacity to promote LIV Golf in the global market and hence the authorities took the decision to get him onboarded ( via ESPN).

While praising O’Neil, Al-Rumayyan didn't forget about the former CEO. He added that Greg Norman played an instrumental role when the league was launched and in the growth of the Saudi-backed league.

Finally, Norman passed the baton to O’Neil, who was proud to have been allowed to serve as the CEO of the breakaway league. O'Neil further mentioned that LIV achieved remarkable heights through the years. His words were:

“What LIV Golf has achieved in just three years is remarkable…The game has been infused with a long overdue bolt of energy and innovation with the team model.”

O’Neil came with a lot of experience in manager roles. He was previously the CEO of the Philadelphia 76ers in 2013, the CEO of Merlin Entertainment - a British company in 2022, while also having other management-level experiences as well.