LIV Golf optimistic about securing world ranking points in 2026, says new CEO

The breakaway circuit, launched in 2022, has been excluded from the OWGR due to its 54-hole, no-cut, closed-field format, but O'Neil, who replaced Greg Norman as LIV chief executive at the start of 2025, described the tour's ongoing discussions with OWGR officials as positive and encouraging.

"We are working very closely with [chairman] Trevor Immelman and the board of OWGR," O'Neil told BBC Sport NI.

"It's likely that will have an impact at some point. We are having conversations with Trevor, who is doing an extraordinary and difficult job towards a solution that we hope to have in place by next season.

"There are a whole host of things we are talking through."

The headline adjustment aimed at paving the way for ranking points is the switch from 54-hole to the standard 72-hole tournaments.

Sponsors and broadcast partners are seeking more television coverage, while the additional day of play will allow room for the concerts, DJs, and fan experiences that have become central to LIV events.

"Whatever we have to do to get more people invested in this great game, we'll do it," added O'Neil.

Negotiations continue more than two and a half years on, even after an intervention by US President Donald Trump, but O'Neil maintains that leagues with different goals can coexist and occasionally work together.

"The PGA Tour is a US-focused tour and they do an incredible job. I would say we're a global tour," said ONeil, who previously worked in the NBA & NHL.

"It's very akin to Formula One and Indy Car. Indy Car is a wonder. I went to the Indianapolis 500 and it's an incredible experience and event.

"Formula One is different, though. It is a cultural experience. You have fashion, art, music and sport and world-class hospitality. It's in all the most important cities in the world and I think that's much more who we are and what we're about."