LIV CEO backs President Trump's involvement in PGA Tour talks

Field Level Media|published: Fri 7th February, 12:47 2025

Oct 27, 2022; Miami, Florida, USA; Former President Donald Trump waves to supporters following his round in the Pro-Am tournament before the LIV Golf series at Trump National Doral. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-Imagn Images

The chief executive officer of LIV Golf is in favor of President Donald Trump getting involved in negotiations to bring about an alliance with the PGA Tour.

"If the leader of the free world is spending his time on golf, [then] I am very happy," LIV's Scott O'Neil said in an interview with Al Arabiya News. "This game matters. It gives values that this world needs more of right now. It brings us together with connectivity."

LIV Golf is kicking off its 2025 schedule this weekend in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

On Thursday, the PGA Tour said commissioner Jay Monahan and player director Adam Scott had met with Trump on Tuesday. In a statement signed by Monahan, Scott and player director Tiger Woods, the PGA Tour said it had asked Trump to help it broker a deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which bankrolls LIV.

"We know golf fans are eagerly anticipating a resolution to negotiations with the Public Investment Fund and want to thank President Trump for his interest and long-time support of the game of golf," read the PGA Tour statement. "We asked the President to get involved for the good of the game, the good of the country, and for all the countries involved. We are grateful that his leadership has brought us closer to a final deal, paving the way for reunification of men's professional golf."

O'Neil said an alliance between the two sides could bring golf back together and unite the world's top players on the same courses again.

"They want the best stars in the world and we have quite a few of them. And so I think when there's an opportunity to put those two things together, good things will happen," O'Neil said in the interview. "And we're really pleased and grateful and appreciative of this, you know, the olive branch and the step forward. We've got great leaderships in the organizations that matter."

Trump, an avid golfer, has standing and credibility with the LIV founders.

His Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami is hosting an event in April, as it did in 2023. That year, Trump courses in Washington, D.C., and Bedminster, N.J., also held LIV events.

--Field Level Media

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