Jon Rahm keeps his focus on golf as LIV CEO's interview raises more questions about tour's future
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Jon Rahm says he had no trouble moving forward inside the ropes amid uncertainty surrounding the future of LIV Golf. He led after the second round Friday even as more questions were raised based on a television interview with CEO Scott O'Neil.
Rahm, coming off a rough showing at the Masters, added a 4-under 67 on Friday to his opening 65 to take a one-shot lead at LIV Golf Mexico.
“It takes a lot to win, and you also need a little bit of luck,” Rahm said. “I’m clearly playing good enough, I just need to take advantage of the opportunities I’ve been giving myself.”
Rahm led by one shot over Matthew Wolff (65), Tom McKibbin (65) and Harold Varner III (66) at Chapultepec Golf Club.
Speculation was running rampant on Wednesday that LIV's main source of funding — Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund — was on the verge of drying up. O'Neil said in a memo to staff that the 2026 season would proceed without interruption and at “full throttle.”
Questions remained whether that would last beyond the end of the year, and O'Neil added to the intrigue in an interview with U.K.-based TNT Sports.
“The reality is that you’re funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going," O'Neil said. "But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of mankind.”
The interview later was removed from TNT Sports' social media account and replaced with a different version.
In a previous interview with LIV's broadcast team, O'Neil was bullish about the future.
“Given the momentum of this business, we’re really excited about where we are and the position where we are,” O'Neil said.
He said he met with 50 people at the Masters and rolled out a plan that “might surprise people.” LIV Golf has said some of its metrics such as ticket sales and team sponsorships have increased, and O'Neil is projecting 10 of the 13 teams and four of the 14 events will be profitable.
But there is a substantial cost involved with prize funds ($30 million for each tournament) and operations. The newsletter Money in Sport reported in February that LIV Golf already had spent $5.3 billion and was projected to surpass $6 billion by the end of the year.
“This notion of bringing teams to market, I had two calls this morning,” O'Neil said on the LIV broadcast. “This notion of, ‘Do you have to raise money?’ Probably this is business. But if we keep the trajectory going the way we are and the revenue growth going, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time.”
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