LIV Golf CEO makes outlandish claim amid Joaquin Niemann’s come-from-behind victory

After Joaquin Niemann stormed back to win LIV Golf Adelaide, Scott O’Neill made a remark that certainly turned some heads.

Joaquin Niemann, currently the 18th-ranked player in the world according to Data Golf, made quite the Sunday charge at LIV Golf Adelaide. Having started the final round facing a three shot deficit, Niemann fired a bogey-free, 7-under 65 to win the tournament by three. It’s the Chilean’s third career LIV Golf title.

But before Niemann putted out for his three-stroke victory, newly appointed CEO Scott O’Neil joined the LIV Golf broadcast and made a bold claim about his league.

“You don’t have to look too far past our leaderboard to know that outside of the majors, if you want to see the best players in the world, there’s only one place to see it, and that’s at LIV,” O’Neill said.

The problem with that statement is that only five LIV players are currently among the top 50 on Data Golf. Sure, three of them are within the top 10, but outside of that, LIV does not have the top players in the world, thus disparaging O’Neill’s claim.

Jon Rahm, who is by far the best player on LIV, is fourth on DataGolf. Englishman Tyrrell Hatton, who won the Dubai Desert Classic last month, ranks sixth, and reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau is 10th. The only other player outside of Rahm, Hatton, DeChambeau, and Niemann who is within the top 50 is Sergio Garcia, who has a win and three top-10 finishes over his last five starts on LIV. Garcia has played well over the past nine months and hopes to rejoin the European Ryder Cup team this year.

PGA Tour players, meanwhile, comprise the top 3 in the Data Golf rankings and 45 of the top 50 players. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Xander Schauffele currently occupy the top three. Even at this week’s Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines, the third Signature Event of the season, 46 of the top 50 players within the Official World Golf Rankings are in the field.

LIV players can still compete among the best of the best and win major championships. DeChambeau and Koepka have proven that at Pinehurst No. 2 and Oak Hill, respectively. Rahm won The 2023 Masters, which came seven months before he jumped to LIV, but he has proven that he can contend — and win any major he plays in.

Yet, O’Neill’s claim about having the best players is delusional and untrue.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.