In a move sure to shape the future of professional golf, the LIV Tour is expected to name Scott O’Neil as the new CEO and Commissioner replacing former pro golfer Greg Norman. Norman has previously told SI his contract as CEO expired in August of 2025 however he expected to stay with the LIV Tour in a different capacity.
Norman helped reshape the pro golf world with the formation of the LIV Tour in 2021 and has served as CEO from the inception. Many heralded golfers were personally recruited by Norman including Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickleson, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Joaquin Neimann with unheard of guaranteed contracts that totaled in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The Saudi Public Investment was the primary financial backer of the upstart LIV Tour with which Norman also had a very hands-on contribution in negotiations.
As the LIV Tour approaches a perilous crossroads with the expiration of a framework deal between LIV, the PGA, and the DP World Tour, many expect the hiring of O’Neil to be a positive moving forward in negotiations. Despite the credit owed to Norman for the early success of LIV, recent downticks in viewership as well as the implosion of the framework deal between the Tours have been attributed by some to Norman’s gruff personality which has admittedly rubbed many PGA members the wrong way in recent years.
O’Neil comes to LIV with a robust resume as it pertains to sports leadership roles. In his early years, O’Neil was an employee of the NBA before eventually working up the ladder to eventually become President of Madison Square Garden. In later years, O’Neil also worked closely for Josh Harris as CEO of Harris/Blitzer Sports and Entertainment to which he oversaw operations for the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils.
With plenty of uncertainty surrounding the future of professional golf, the LIV Tour appears to have taken a pre-emptive step towards assimilation by hiring a veteran sports businessman capable of taking the LIV Tour into the future, one in which unity of the Tours appears paramount to the future success of all professional golf entities.
