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It hasn’t taken new LIV Golf chief Scott O’Neil long to make headlines.
O’Neil, who replaced Greg Norman as CEO and commissioner of the Saudi-funded league, made a claim ahead of the final round of LIV Golf Adelaide that has raised the eyebrows of golf fans the world over.
Speaking to commentary team Arlo White, Jerry Foltz and David Feherty, the new man at the helm spoke about how the Australian event has captured the imagination of sports fans ‘Down Under’.
The event has established itself as the biggest tournament on LIV’s schedule, with O’Neil explaining that the plan is to replicate its success in other “golf-starved” markets such as Mexico and South Korea.
• New report details LIV Golf’s “staggering losses”
• New LIV Golf boss addresses Greg Norman exit
“It doesn’t happen overnight,” O’Neil said. “But you have a public-private partnership, you have corporate support, you have fans that want it.”
“You don’t have to look too far past our leaderboard to know that, outside of the majors, if you want to see the best players in the world, there’s only one place to see it. And that’s at LIV.”
The PGA Tour, which still counts Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Tiger Woods and Xander Schauffele amongst its number, might have something to say about that.
• Rory McIlroy details recent round with Donald Trump
• Collin Morikawa hits back at major champion over controversial claim
Brandel Chamblee certainly did.
The Golf Channel analyst, a long-time LIV Golf critic, wasted no time in responding to a clip of O’Neil’s comments, which circulated quickly on social media.
“Their top 10 players average finish was outside the top 40 in the 34 majors they played last year,” wrote Chamblee. “Meanwhile Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler won 3 of the 4 majors in 2024 so maybe you only have to look far enough past their leaderboard to see a PGA Tour leaderboard.”
On the golf course, Joaquin Niemann held off Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz to win in Australia. It was the Chilean’s third victory on the league.
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