When Iranian missiles shut down Gulf airspace, several professional golfers bound for LIV Golf’s Hong Kong tournament found themselves stuck in Dubai.
In all, eight LIV players, three broadcasters, four caddies and several family members were stuck in the Middle East, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil recounted to Fortune on March 9, the third day of the four-day contest in Hong Kong.
“Events like this can be a bit stressful because the only thing we’re focusing on is our sole focus is making sure the players, the caddies, the broadcasters and their families are safe” LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil told Fortune on March 9, the third day of the four-day contest in Hong Kong.
Stranded golfers ended up making a mad dash to Oman and golfer Jon Rahm’s private jet to get them to LIV Golf Hong Kong, and made it to Hong Kong in time. (Oman has become a popular exit for expats fleeing the Gulf; on March 9, Muscat’s airport limited access to private jets to ensure space for commercial and government flights).
“We experience our fair share of challenges as the geopolitical world reveals itself. We always think first and foremost about safety,” O’Neil said, crediting “precise planning, excellent resources and tremendous leadership, particularly from Jon Rahm and [general manager] Jeff Koski,” in getting the golfers out of the conflict zone and to Hong Kong on time.
LIV’s Hong Kong tournament, held at the 137-year-old Hong Kong Golf Club at Fanling near the border with mainland China, looked different from a traditional golf tournament. DJ sets and chef-led cooking demos sit alongside the competition, part of LIV’s “golf for everyone” push. O’Neil noted that 30% of LIV’s Hong Kong attendees had never been to a golf tournament before.
O’Neil took over as LIV’s CEO in early 2025, succeeding Hall-of-Famer Greg Norman, who launched the breakaway league in 2021. O’Neil is a career sports executive, running properties like Madison Square Garden, the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils, and most recently served as CEO of Merlin Entertainments, operator of the Legoland resorts, before joining LIV.
LIV Golf, backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, burst onto the scene promising to disrupt men’s professional golf with the slogan “Golf, but Louder.” The league lured stars such as Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka with large guaranteed contracts and pitched a shorter, more broadcast-friendly format built around both individual and team competitions.
The golf upstart still has a long way to go until it’s financially sustainable. LIV Golf’s UK arm, which oversees non-U.S. operations, reported a $462 million loss in 2024, bringing cumulative losses since 2022 to more than $1.1 billion, according to filings. A proposed merger between the PGA Tour and LIV, announced in 2023, has stalled.
“It’s an early-stage business,” O’Neil said. “If you talk to any of the executives here, you’ll find us walking with a quiet confidence.” He added that overall revenue has doubled, ticket revenue is up about 80% year-on-year, and that LIV’s tournaments were responsible for over $1 billion in economic impact worldwide.
Saudi Arabia has pulled back on some of its most ambitious projects, and the Iran war could tighten Riyadh’s wallet. The PIF has committed over $5 billion to LIV. Yet O’Neil is optimistic about PIF’s involvement, saying LIV feels “appreciated, loved and supported,” describing the experience as “quite a journey to be with extraordinary investors who have a long-term approach to business.”
The PGA Tour has responded to the new competition by creating pathways for LIV players to return, rolling out new high-purse “signature” events, and pushing harder into Asian markets. It also installed a new chief executive, Brian Rolapp, in June. That pushed LIV to respond in turn: the league ended up tweaking its format to allow players to qualify for golf’s major championships, narrowing one of its key differentiators.
LIV is borrowing a page from U.S. team sports to narrow the gap with PGA. Each team operates as a quasi-franchise with its own branding and commercial rights; team captains can hold equity in the teams and seek their own sponsors. O’Neil confirmed to Fortune that Citi has been hired to help LIV sell minority equity stakes in its teams.
O’Neil—who called LIV the “F1 of golf”—believes the league can carve out a global niche. “The PGA Tour is in America, and they do a wonderful job there,” he said. “There are also more than 100 million golfers outside the U.S., and that’s the market we’re interested in.” LIV already stages events in South Korea and Australia, and O’Neil singled out mainland China and Japan as priority markets.
“There’s plenty of room for everyone,” he said.
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