LIV Golf’s chief executive said “reinvention,” another member of the division’s C-suite said “evolution,” and the choice of names is likely to satisfy everyone, regardless of where you fall in the divisive league.
For LIV advocates, such a change is welcome. For them, it’s hectic. It’s an impulse. It shows the league’s growth in the month since the start of its fifth season.
Then again, repairs can also be considered repairs. Like despair. Keep in mind that LIV continues to struggle to find a foothold in the US, with one of its stars moving to the rival PGA Tour, and a few others could follow.
Or they can stick. Remaking and evolution are on the way, after all.
Below are details revealed on Wednesday at LIV’s season preview session featuring four LIV players – CEO Scott O’Neil; Chris Heck, president, business operations; Ross Hallett, senior vice president, head of events; and Katie O’Reilly, senior vice president, group business operations.
Most players relegated?
As a way to gain Official World Golf Ranking points for its events and its next players, O’Neil revealed that many LIV pros may be demoted at the end of the season. Last year, LIV’s season-long points race worked like this: 24 players were in the so-called Lock Zone and were protected; 24 players were in the Open Zone, where they face possible release or trade; and nine players were in the Drop Zone, which means what.
“You’re going to see an expanded Lock Zone, an expanded Drop Zone this year,” O’Neil said, “which as we work toward world-class scoring, we think there are some things, some shifts you’ll see in ’26 that I think will help our offense and continue to give us more hope that that will happen.”
What does this mean? In the past few months, LIV has taken other steps to score OWGR. It extended its tournament length from 54 holes to 72. It has expanded the qualifiers to enter the league through the Asian Tour-based International Series and its Promotions event. What do you think? Points mean more ways to enter bigger tournaments – and more appeal to join LIV or stay.
Has O’Neil seen any progress on the LIV petition? He said he is always talking with OWGR chairman Trevor Immelman and said the hope is to hear a decision before the start of the season.
“I’ve said this publicly 100 times,” O’Neil said, “but I’ll just say it again: I think he has the hardest job in the world. Think about his board. As a long-time executive, I’ve had different boards, and they all come with their own challenges. His is built on the PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the four major titles, and that makes people achieve the most in the world to get the most benefit in the world. points.
“Trevor has to combine – he has that difficulty. He has the difficulty of where the ratings are today, where some of the greatest golfers in the world are in that ranking system, and they may be playing in LIV. We’re trying to lean – we’re all trying to lean as quickly as we can and as much as we can, while maintaining the integrity of the league, to do everything we can to make a decision quickly.”
Are the rules changing?
O’Neil spoke briefly about this, saying the rule changes would come after discussions with the USGA and the R&A. He also said that the LIV rules committee had been “re-engineered” and that there would be new rules officers this year.
What does this mean? The assumption here is that the LIV will establish several Local Rules for the New Rules. The PGA Tour recently did so, and you can read about that here.
A ‘breakthrough’ for broadcast TV?
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That came from Heck, who said:
“Our broadcast on television, we have a complete change. We think that there are two stories to tell. We believe that the stories that are told may have been difficult to follow in the past, so we will have a great effort to focus on two stories: one for the individual golfer, two for the golf team. So you will see almost like a color broadcast, and they will not be confused at the same time.
“There are two stories, because there are two champions, at the end of the week. We are very happy. We think that the fourth day of golf for us gives us a platform to tell our stories a little better and cleaner. We are very focused and excited for the future.”
What does this mean? Previously, individual and team scores were listed on the leaderboard side of the screen. Now? We’ll find out when LIV’s season starts next month, though we may have gotten a preview from last week’s LIV Promotions event, where that leaderboard was small and the names were all set. Notably, according to the history written by Sports Business Journal of Josh Carpenter (which you can read here), James Watson, the senior vice president of LIV – global production, has left the league.
Big bags?
The prize money is increasing. This season, the events will have purses of $30 million, with $22 million going to individual races and the rest going into the team race. Last year, $25 million was raised.
What does that mean? Money, money, money.
The DP World Tour solution?
LIV players are also currently playing DP World Tour events – but the former European Tour suspends and fines players who play in LIV tournaments, so LIV professionals either comply with the fines or take their case to court. The latest is what Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton did – and as they waited for the decision, they played DP World Tour events and met the qualifications of the European Ryder Cup team.
On Wednesday, a reporter asked if O’Neil hoped there would be a decision “so that guys can go play in Europe without facing those sanctions,” and O’Neil said only this:
“I can only say that there is a dialogue going on, so I would like not to give any further comments.”
What does that mean? Success would be a major victory for LIV. But if the DP World Tour continues to punish the LIV pros, the Ryder Cup future of Rahm and Hatton (and others) could be in doubt.
A national open pursuit?
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This came from O’Neil, who said:
“What you’re going to see in the next few years is the rebuilding and reshaping of the International Series and working with amazing partnerships, some talented and talented people in the golf federations around the world to have an open country strategy. And, there’s more to come over time. You’ll probably see four or five or six come in this year, but if you fast forward two years, three out of 12, you’ll have 12 years of the biggest national Series.
“The reason is that we believe that the opening of the country will drive more fans, drive more viewers and drive more people to this great sport.”
What does that mean? There are many possible ways to get into the majors. In August, the Masters and Open Championship announced they would release the winners of six national openings, and he wondered if more would be released. There are many players who have recently expressed their love for national sports.
That came from Heck, who said:
“We have a very special, if not exclusive, watch that we will announce soon. We have a lot of global brands that will go with LIV Golf, and it’s very exciting. We’re on a path that I don’t think anything compares to, to be honest with you, at least in my 30-plus years of work.”
What does that mean? LIV stepped in among others with sponsors, after many failed at first. The unit continues to be heavily supported by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
The team is changing?
Over the course of the season, three of LIV’s 13 teams changed names or changed their look: Iron Heads GC to Korean Golf Club; Stinger Golf Club became Southern Guards GC; and the Majestic changed their image to a British theme. Several LIV teams are made up entirely of players from certain parts of the world, and O’Reilly said the team’s latest move underscores that.
“We are lucky that we have boys and players who have grown up in those cultures that they really live and breathe,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that our team’s products truly embody the beauty of all cultures and global identities around the world and capture our positive contribution to LIV Golf.”
What does that mean? Communication helps team support, and LIV has worked on this. But that depends on who comes to the league.
Any reaction to Brooks Koepka leaving and returning to the PGA Tour?
On December 23rd, LIV announced that Brooks Koepka was leaving the tour – and on Monday, the PGA Tour said he had rejoined the circuit. O’Neil spoke volumes at the event, and to read his comments, please click here.
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