By Kent Gray
While the golf world waits to see which star players will buy into its still largely shrouded vision for the professional game, LIV Golf Investments has quietly continued building the commercial arm charged with turning the “ambitious” project into reality.

Monica Fee and Lily Kenny are the latest appointments, joining immediately in the roles of Senior Vice President, Global Head of Partnerships, and Head of Strategy, respectively.

Fee previously served as a Property Sales Agent at CAA Sports, representing many of the world’s top sports properties for naming rights opportunities and global sponsorship. In 2017, Fee was recognised by Adweek as one of “The Most Powerful Women in Sports.”

Kenny joins LIV Golf Investments from Amazon where she played an integral role in the company’s rapidly growing entertainment space over the last five years, most recently leading the international expansion strategy and the launch of Amazon’s ad-supported video service, IMDb TV, in the United Kingdom.

Kenny will be responsible for advising on strategic decisions across LIV Golf’s commercial operations while Fee will be tasked with identifying key partners “that share LIV Golf Investments’ vision for establishing groundbreaking platforms to grow the sport of golf across the world.”

Fee and Kenny join an expanding group of high-profile executives from the golf, sport and entertainment industries, including Chief Commercial Officer Sean Bratches, Chief Operating Officer Atul Khosla, Chief Media Officer Will Staeger, and Chief Events Officer Ron Cross.

The newly announced duo will report directly to Bratches.

“I am very pleased to welcome Monica and Lily to LIV Golf Investments to help lead our company’s ambitious plans to expand our global corporate presence and grow the game of golf around the world,” said Sean Bratches, Chief Commercial Officer of LIV Golf Investments.

“This is an exciting time for all of us as we grow our team, and the appointment of Monica and Lily is the latest show of force of how we are strengthening the commercial arm of the business.”

Fee said she was invigorated to be part of something “truly groundbreaking in the world of sport.”

“I look forward to bringing my creativity and sponsorship expertise to the LIV Golf Investments team, helping to grow the game and link leading brands to a new global sports property,” said Fee. “It is an honour to join Sean’s team…”

Kenny agreed the “ game of golf has immense potential for growth, and I am eager to leverage my expertise and tap into the game’s true potential.”

“It is an exciting time to join the LIV Golf Investments leadership team as we work to push boundaries and deliver a new experience to professional golfers and fans alike.”

LIV Golf Investments Chief Operating Officer Atul Khosla.

The appointment of Fee and Kenny comes a week after Kholsa was unveiled as COO.

Khosla was most recently the Chief Corporate Development and Brand Officer for the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he held responsibilities spanning corporate partnership, marketing and event production, game-day entertainment, community impact, as well as digital and media rights.

He previously served as COO of the Chicago Fire Soccer Club, where he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Team and the growth of MLS in Chicago. He joined the Fire in 2011 after spending over a decade at General Electric, holding key leadership positions with the multinational conglomerate’s healthcare division following roles at NBC Sports.

“We have an incredible opportunity to create a unique new platform that elevates the game of golf for all professional players and engages golf fans across the world,” said Khosla. “I look forward to being a part of the LIV Golf Investments team to help bring this vision to life and transform the game into an international sport.”

Khosla will report to Greg Norman, the founding CEO of LIV Golf Investments which was unveiled in late October with a self-described remit to ”holistically improve the health of professional golf on a truly global scale and support existing stakeholders to help unlock the sport’s untapped potential.” It has group companies in the USA and UK, with Asian offices to follow. LIV Golf is bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

A $200 million, 10-year investment in 10 new elite events to be bolted onto the Asian Tour schedule from 2022 was the first move by LIV Golf Investments which is “focused on making strategic investments in golf.”

Reports of a start-up league with myriad innovations continue to swirl around the new entity but as yet, no concrete plans beyond the link to the Asian Tour have been announced.

Meanwhile, the PGA Tour and European Tour alliance can wait until 30 days before the Feb. 3-6 Saudi International before deciding whether or not to grant waivers to players named to tee it up in the Asian Tour’s new $5 million 2022 season-opener. The Royal Greens Gold & Country Club event is not part of the 10-new premier Asian Tour events but the link LIV Golf clearly does not sit well with the established tours.

Two-time defending champion Dustin Johnson, fellow 2021 U.S. Ryder Cuppers Bryson DeChambeau and Xander Schauffele, fan-favourites Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson and former Masters champion Adam Scott were among an impressive gaggle of 25-headline acts unveiled for the Saudi International presented by Softbank Investment Advisors late last month.

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By Dave Shedloski
It appears as if the new startup golf league headed by Greg Norman is keen on picking off former PGA Tour leadership before it sees if it can lure PGA Tour players.

On Tuesday, LIV Golf Investments, the newly formed company Norman is heading as CEO, added three more names to its leadership team. One in particular stood out: Slugger White, who recently retired from the PGA Tour after 40 years as a rules official and tournament director. White was named vice president of rules & competition management for the fledgling enterprise backed by investors from Saudi Arabia that will oversee a series of 10 new events on the Asian Tour ahead of potentially launching a rival league to the PGA Tour.

White, 72, will be reporting to Ron Cross, LIVs new chief events officer. Cross is a longtime former executive at the PGA Tour whose title as senior vice president of the Presidents Cup and other international events was eliminated in December as part of job cuts the tour made in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Cross’ experience also includes a role with Augusta National Golf Club managing the Asian-Pacific Amateur, the 12th edition of which was held last week in Dubai.

Other new hires that Norman announced on Tuesday include Will Staeger, whose résumé includes work for ESPN and WWE, as chief media officer and Jane MacNeille, tapped as vice president of communications after seven years as head of communications for the Greg Norman Company. The pair will be reporting to Sean Bratches, who previously worked at Liberty Media, a media conglomerate largely responsible to increasing the profile of Formula 1 racing in the U.S., as well as ESPN as executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Said Norman of the new personnel: “As we pursue our goal of enhancing the global golf ecosystem, we are focused on building upon our strong foundation of sustainable growth, and are pleased to welcome Will, Slugger and Jane to the leadership team. Their combined experience and expertise will be invaluable and instrumental, guiding LIV Golf Investments into the future.”

Reached by phone, White said that he and Norman, who have been good friends for some 30 years, “have been talking about this for a while.” It was their friendship, basically, that pulled White out of retirement to do essentially the same job he had at the tour—heading up the rules committee, setting up the golf course and administering rules for the 10 tournaments that LIV is creating as an add-on to the Asian Tour.

White said he is recruiting other rules officials to bolster his staff but doesn’t know yet when his duties will begin. He anticipated that a schedule of the new events could be finalised as early as the end of the month, though no timeline is certain.

“It’s a new chapter,” he said, adding that he had no solid plans for how long he would work for the new tour. “I don’t know when it’s really going to start, but it’s going to be interesting.”

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