LIV GOLF SOUTH AFRICA

March 22, 2026

Scott O'Neil

Gayton McKenzie

Richard Glover

Steven Louw

The Club at Steyn City

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning. Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the media center to kick off the final day of LIV Golf South Africa 2026. We're joined this morning by Gayton McKenzie, South African minister of sport, art and culture; Scott O'Neil, CEO of LIV Golf; Richard Glover, general manager of the all-South African Southern Guard GC; and Steven Louw, CEO of Steyn City Properties.

Minister, we'll start with you. This is set to become the highest attended professional golf event in the continent's history. How proud are you of everything that's been accomplished to date, and do you have any news or anything to announce as we look ahead to the future?

GAYTON McKENZIE: Thank you very much.

I think this is more than golf. This is about our country. What LIV Golf has done, they've showcased our country like nothing I've ever seen. I'm very emotional because this man right here, he believed in some minister that went to go see him and said, listen, you've got to bring this to South Africa.

The good news I have, because everybody has been asking me, is that they're coming back next year on the 22nd of April to the 25th of April. LIV Golf is coming back. We'll have LIV Golf next year.

But I have to say the biggest -- somebody asked me now, I think it was Chris Bentley that asked me, are you enjoying it? I said, there's only one problem I have, and I want to rectify it right now. South Africans, at 11:00 a.m. today, get your ticket for next year. I'm not going to be called like last week, Minister we can't get tickets, Minister, we can't get tickets. Last night people are calling me, listen, can you not make a plan for a ticket. I said, yeah, how many you need. He said, I need 42. I am like, 42? Four hours before the gate opens.

I just want to say in conclusion, get your tickets. It's the 22nd after to 25th of April next year, LIV Golf is coming back. This is becoming the headquarters of LIV Golf Adelaide. You'd better make sure we're going to sell 250,000 tickets next year.

SCOTT O'NEIL: Let's go!

GAYTON McKENZIE: That's a challenge to Adelaide.

THE MODERATOR: Scott, the world has seen the growing momentum of LIV Golf in markets around the globe, and now they've witnessed it this week in South Africa. Can you just share from the organization's point of view everything that's been accomplished?

SCOTT O'NEIL: Yes, thank you. South Africa, maybe more than anyplace on the planet, understands the power and impact of sport. Sport absolutely brings people together, communities together, countries together to celebrate.

We are so blessed to have the Southern Guards led by Richard Glover and all the incredible work he's done, and Louis and Charl and Gracey and Dean, who wear the flag on the back of their kit as an emblem, as a reminder of the love and passion they have for being South African.

Sport is special, my friends. There have been more than a few moments that have brought me to the brink of tears, and they're tears of love and joy and appreciation for something special. Like, this is a moment, but it's just the beginning.

When you have dreamers like our Southern Guards, led by Richard Glover, and you have doers like the incredible team at LIV, Chris Bentley, Ross Hallett, Chris Heck, all this incredible team we have here, and you have a force of will and drive like the minister here, Gayton McKenzie, I know it takes a village to pull off the biggest golf event on this continent. I know how hard it is to get up -- the times are changing with some weather. It doesn't matter. We show up and we do it.

Boy, man, sitting on 18th green yesterday, as Dean and Gracey come through, those are moments I will never forget. That first tee box, we're going to have another special one today, but man, oh, man, if this isn't something you can appreciate, then you need to reevaluate your life's choices.

This is what sport is about. This is what LIV Golf is about.

As we travel around to Adelaide and UK and all these places, Korea, Mexico City, Hong Kong, and you see these crowds just keep coming, it makes us appreciate why we do what we do, why we work so hard, why we travel so much. You see our players out there signing for hours because they're trying to grow this great game, and they're willing to do it one fan at a time. We just seem to do it 100,000 at a time here.

I am grateful. Thank you to the members of the media. Thank you to the minister and the incredible team he has with him. Thank you to our minister of tourism, who's been a tremendous support. Our sponsors have been incredible. But whoa, this is about the fans. It was Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and will be forever, and we look forward to being here a very long time.

Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: Richard, we've heard from the players all week about how emotional of an experience this has been for them. Obviously the Southern Guards were instrumental in bringing this here. When this idea first came to be, is this what you and the team envisioned?

RICHARD GLOVER: I think it's way beyond our wildest expectations. It actually feels like a bit of a fairy-tale, and I think we're really hoping for a fairy-tale ending today. Louis's last words to the boys before they went out to warm up today was, the time for talking is over; let's go and win this thing. Go Rhinos!

But I just wanted to say, it's been an incredibly emotional week for the players. Every one of them has said to me, this is one of the best weeks of their life. All of them have had tears on the first tee, as Scott has said, and they've just been blown away by the South African support.

But what they wanted to say and what they asked me to say to everyone watching this, everyone out there, is just a big thank you from the Southern Guards. No one does sport like South African fans, so the boys really feel it and they really want all the fans to get behind them today and hopefully drive them to victory.

THE MODERATOR: Steven, this is a world-class venue. From the members here in the community, what has it been like? What is the experience of bringing LIV Golf here?

STEVEN LOUW: Thanks. I think it's been an absolute privilege to be involved in this. LIV are such an incredible, professional outfit. I think we share a vision for what golf can be for the fans in South Africa. We're very fortunate that we have the kind of venue that can deliver on that.

Minister, we're going to have to do the sums and see whether 250,000 is possible. We might need a few more bridges and a little bit of infrastructure, but it has been incredible.

I'd also like to just say thank you to our residents for their support, and very importantly to my team, who have worked very closely with Chris and his entire team. Chris, you guys have been incredible. The professionalism, the way in which you've approached any challenges we've had, people wouldn't know that they're there, you really have done a superb job, my boy, so thank you so much. But we are very, very proud to be assisting in making history in South Africa.

So thank you for that opportunity, Scott.

Q. Minister, I heard 2027. Is that all we're looking that at the moment or are we looking at a year or two?

GAYTON McKENZIE: Listen, I just want to say two things quickly. First one is that LIV Golf is never leaving this continent again (smiling), which means we're going to be here 2027, 2028, 2029, 20forever. We're going to be here. And LIV Golf has found -- I don't care what Adelaide is saying; they said, minister, you must sell one ticket less than us, so I want to see how they're going to chase me with 250.

I just want to say, Friday I was walking here, and I got really emotional twice. I was so happy I wasn't here when Louis teed off because I was in the car watching because I don't -- and I shed a tear. I just shed a tear because Louis -- this team, the Southern Guards, is just so great.

Walking in here Friday, I thought about Douw Steyn. I wish he was here to see his vision, what he has done, what he has built, and I want to say to you, LIV Golf's headquarters is now in South Africa. Thank you.

Q. For the minister and Scott, Mr. Minister, do you have any kind of intention to maybe try and see if you can chat to Sunshine Tour and Golf RSA to maybe get them on board for next year? And Scott, two questions arising off that, what would cooperation between LIV and Sunshine TOUR/GOLF RSA look like? And do you deal with other national bodies that are allied to DP World Tour and PGA TOUR which according to Sunshine Tour is what stops them from working with you guys?

SCOTT O'NEIL: Yes, thank you for the question. I think I should take this one. I think this is more me than the minister, although he's never short on words. I'm sure he can weigh in if he wants to.

Our typical relationship when we go into a market is that we come in to complete, not compete. We believe wholly and solely in the great game of golf and the values you learn, consistency, integrity, resilience, humility and vision that you get and gain from golf. So we are for all golf, from putt-putt to par-3s to TopGolf to the local tours to local tournaments. We are here to support and help drive.

Typically what happens when we come into a market is we offer a reserve playing spot from the local tour. We offer the teaching pros from around the country and their families to come as our guests, the caddies from around the country and their families to come as our guests.

We offer to showcase their tour to over 1 billion homes around the world in 200 countries where we broadcast. We offer to promote their upcoming tournaments through -- you have 100,000 fans here. We'd like to promote them to the upcoming tournaments. We offer to make introductions to the global partners of ours who they may not have access to, HSBC, Rolex, Salesforce, Qualcomm, et cetera, and generally we offer some contribution to the junior golf program, because for us, like we did at World of Golf, where we opened up golf for people to come and play for free and kind of be exposed to the game, that's our base package, just so you know. That's what we do when we come to a market.

Sometimes it takes a little time, and that's okay. Sometimes, you know, maybe you read something in the media, who are these guys, or maybe you're a little skittish or maybe you have a relationship. But at the end of the day, the beautiful thing that aligns us with every federation around the world is they wake up looking to grow this game, and so do we.

So we will have a relationship, I'm sure, and over time it will be one of our strongest partnerships, and the gaining factor isn't the PGA TOUR and it's not the DP World Tour; that's not how it works. We work with federations all over the world and have those relationships, and we so look forward to working with Thomas. He's an outstanding executive. He's a wonderful advocate for golf, and I'm sure we'll have a very strong relationship going forward.

GAYTON McKENZIE: I have something to add about LIV Golf. I'm going to give you the South African answer. There's a Chinese saying that says, as a leader, you must constantly look back to see if the people are still following you. LIV Golf, they came here with humility.

The sport of golf does not reach Black kids in the township. It does not reach the majority of people in South Africa. The sport of golf is viewed as an elite sport. But if you look at the crowd here in this 100,000 people that came, this was the most diverse crowd for any sporting event.

As the minister of sport, arts and culture in this country, we are not going to back people to promote golf; we're going to look for people that's willing to promote golf. We talk to everyone, but we don't back no one.

If they feel it's about them and it's not about the sport of golf -- what you see here today, you've never seen in a golf tournament in South Africa. Be honest about it; those are great guys. Natey is a fantastic guy. I don't know the other guy so well. But we're going to tell them -- I spoke to Scott. Scott said to me, Minister, I want to work with them.

So if they don't want to work together, the country comes first. They have tried to stop me from having LIV Golf here, and I said, it's not about you, it's about the country. That time where certain individuals can think in this country, they can say what happens to the detriment of the majority of people is over. So now you have my answer. We work with those that want to work with us.

I will give Natey a call because I have got so much admiration for him. Thank you.

Q. Richard, you have a meeting for the players every morning. I think they were saying to you, Brendan was saying that he's played three Presidents Cups; he's never had an atmosphere like he's had this week. How much has their performance been gained from what the crowd has done here this week?

RICHARD GLOVER: Yeah, as I've said earlier, I think all four of the boys have said this is up there in their top one or two golf experiences of their life, and we're talking players who have won major championships. They have said this is like playing at a major. That's what it feels like in terms of the crowd support.

We knew the South African crowd would be good, but we didn't know it would be this good, and there's no doubt that there's an electricity in the air when our boys are playing, and it's definitely -- we've been carried forward on a surge of South African patriotism.

These four boys, they come from different parts of South Africa. They've made it on the global golf stage in every country, in every continent you can think of. But they're sons of Africa, and they feel like they've finally come home and they can represent their country on what is now the biggest golf stage in South African golf.

Yeah, they feel great. They feel energized and they're ready to go. Look, whatever happens today, I can tell you we're going to have a quiet drink, which will probably turn into a louder drink later, but when we have the quiet drink I can tell you as a team we're going to raise a glass to the true heroes and the true champions of this event and the true heroes and the true champions of this event are all the staff who have worked behind the scenes to make this happen. Incredible.

I have to single out Chris Bentley. He's quickly become one of my favorite people that I've ever met, an inspirational leader, but critically, the South African fans have just been amazing, so they're really the true winners and the true champions from this event. They deserve to raise the trophy at the end of this event. So thank you.

Q. Minister of sport, just a quick one. What's your office plan to ride off the LIV Golf momentum, to grow the sport particularly in underprivileged communities?

GAYTON McKENZIE: Well, let me tell you what this man here -- this is unbelievable. I'll tell you why. It didn't come from me; it came from him, when he said to me, Minister, kids under 12 are coming in free today. These are things that we didn't ask, but it was offered.

LIV Golf has got LIV impact. They leave an impact wherever they are. They've already given money, together with the Steyn Foundation, to the underprivileged. You look at the plans that we are discussing behind the scenes, like giving golf bags because you can't just have clinics. I hate that where people have clinics and teaching kids, and that kid will never see a golf bag again because their parent can't afford them, but you speak to Scott, you speak to Ross, like, we need to get golf gear in the hands of these kids to own. So it must become something like a soccer ball. That language is foreign in our country as far as golf is concerned.

I can tell you that we as a department will also play our role in meeting -- we are not beggars. We will meet each other halfway to make sure. I mean, like there's people here that came to golf for the first time. For the first time. They were, like, explaining to each other, how can we do this. When is the next one.

For me, there's a huge responsibility on LIV Golf and the department of sport, arts and culture, and I think it would be disingenuous of me not to praise the Government of National Unity because the cabinet ministers that I serve with, they agreed to this. When there's a national event in this country, the rules of this country is they have to be agreed to in cabinet.

I want to salute all of them for the fact that they supported this event. The President, I don't know if it's because he's a golfer, but he really supported us big time.

Most importantly for me is the supporters out here today. We're going to teach everybody that's not from South Africa, today we're going to teach you what is "gees." You're going to see what is gees today because Southern Guards is winning this thing. I mean, I'm telling you today --

Lastly, I must -- there's two international players I have to single out. I'll tell you why I want to single them out. I went to South Korea. I met with LIV Golf. I met with my friends the Southern Guards. I met with Richard and them. I made so many promises, which we kept each and every one of them.

But I was sitting in a corner, and Bryson walked over to me, Bryson DeChambeau, he walked over to me. He just came and took my hand, he pulled me closer to him and he said, thank you; we're coming to South Africa. We wanted to play in South Africa. I know you're going to do a big thing.

I became very emotional. Nobody asked him. He did that. The guy is just natural born star. I walked out to my car to leave back to South Africa, and Jon Rahm says, I trust you. I trust you. I trust you. Those words, like you can see that they wanted to come here, and thanks for bringing them here.

But I'm telling you today, if you are a betting person, it had better be Southern Guards. I have seen what is gees.

STEVEN LOUW: If I can add quickly on what you said around the foundation. It's actually the Southern Guard Foundation that's teamed up with the Steyn City Foundation. We've identified -- we're starting small. I'm sure we're going to try and grow this, but 40 young kids from primary schools in Diepsloot that came through last week, and they kicked off with the Southern Guard boys were here to help them in their first putting lesson, and it's a 12-month program.

So this is about trying to teach them something about golf, but it's a lot more than that, as well. They're going to be taught life skills, the kind of values that Scott often refers to, as well, are the things that these young kids are going to be exposed to. So it goes way beyond golf.

We think by starting in a small way you can have a really big impact. So it's real. It's not just a clinic; it's a sustained program, and Richard, I look forward to seeing what they're going to be like in 12 months' time.

GAYTON McKENZIE: Just make sure they get the bags with the whole tools they need.

RICHARD GLOVER: I think one more point to make about the program, which we think is important, is it's a program aimed at both boys and girls, which I think is really important to us as a team because we want to put down roots in this country, firm roots, long, long roots for a long, long time and represent everyone in this country. That's really important to all four boys.

I can tell you all four players have said to me, whatever happens today happens; sport can be cruel, golf can be cruel. But the key performance indicator that they really want to see coming out of today is that a generation of kids from all communities in South Africa see their heroes today, get up close to their heroes and are inspired to play golf. That's a win for us as a team.

GAYTON McKENZIE: The question that you guys didn't ask, where are we going next year. You know the date, but you didn't ask me where we're going. We're staying right here at Steyn City and Panyaza Lesufi. Do what you did this year. You were truly, truly, truly what you call Easter with your whole embassies, Gauteng province. Panyaza always tells me that Gauteng province is the province of champions. I can't argue that now. Thank you.