PGA Tour players will be allowed to play in the LIV Golf Promotions event without fear of being suspended. The event will take place Dec. 8-10 across 72 holes at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates. The top three finishers at the end of the competition will earn status on LIV Golf and be eligible to be drafted by a team for the 2024 season.
“Based on the information publicly available regarding the LIV Golf Promotion event; it is determined to be a qualifying event only and not a part of an unauthorized series,” a PGA Tour spokesman told Sports Illustrated. “Therefore, the LIV Golf Promotion event is not categorized as an ‘unauthorized tournament.’ This classification is subject to change should the details of the event change.”
While players will be allowed to play in the qualifying event, it does not necessarily mean they will be allowed to play on LIV Golf in 2024 without punishment. Since the start of LIV Golf in 2022, members of the PGA Tour have been suspended (or proactively resigned their membership) if choosing to participate in a LIV Golf tournament.
LIV Golf announced the details of its pseudo Q-school following the decision by the Official World Golf Rankings board to not award the circuit world ranking points. In addition to the team format, player movement in and out of the league was among the issues raised by the OWGR.
LIV Golf Promotions aims to squash any of those concerns. The top 20 players after 18 holes will be joined by exempt golfers in the second round. Scores will reset and the same cadence will follow. These 20 players, as well as those exempt from the first two days, will start from scratch and compete in a 36-hole final day with the top three earning status on LIV Golf.
This all comes as the PGA Tour and LIV Golf continue to negotiate a deal bringing both under the same umbrella with financing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The framework agreement has a deadline of two months with some analysts believing that mitigating factors will result in the parties missing that deadline.