Who Will Show Up to LIV Golf Promotions?

I’ve traveled to jungle courses in Southeast Asia, sat in local tea houses in China, and slept on bamboo mats on bug-infested floors while chasing tour status. In the world of professional golf, if there is a qualifier offering a chance to make a living, players will show up. Host it in Borneo, Riyadh, or a cornfield in Iowa — we’ll come. 

LIV Golf recently announced a qualifier at Black Diamond Ranch in Florida this January. No adventurous travel required for Americans (long lines and flight delays excluded). Two LIV Golf spots will be up for grabs, along with 10 cards for the International Series — a pathway to LIV featuring $1.5–$2 million purses. Based on the entry criteria, LIV expects a field that’s both promising and highly accomplished. Who replaces relegated LIV golfers from last season arguably matters more to their campaign for OWGR points than any other change made in the offseason. But by staging and broadcasting the event in the PGA Tour’s backyard, LIV now has to wonder: who will actually come?

The depth of talent in professional golf has never been greater, and with fewer jobs on the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours in 2026, a strong field of hungry players at the Promotions event seemed likely. But PGA Tour media rights rules have made player decisions much trickier.

As Bob Harig reported this week, because the qualifier is being played and broadcast in North America, LIV Promotions is considered an unauthorized event by the PGA Tour. That means media releases for Tour members will not be granted. The Tour has gone further, warning that any player without status on a PGA Tour-operated circuit could be suspended from future events. In other words, if I found my way into the field at LIV Promotions, I could be barred from Monday qualifiers and Q school in 2026.

In the past two years, LIV Promotions was held in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh. The far-off locations and late scheduling discouraged some American players. Last year, just one LIV qualifying spot was available in Riyadh, leading many to skip the trip. Still, 93 players teed it up in the opening round in Saudi Arabia. While the PGA Tour threatened disciplinary action during the first Promotions event in Abu Dhabi, few members participated, so the Tour never had to follow through. This time, with the event in Florida and LIV targeting young American talent, the PGA Tour is taking a much harder line.

The entry bar is high: eligibility is limited to Walker and Palmer Cup participants, national amateur champions and runners-up, top-ranked amateurs, top-ranked pros, and recent winners on major world tours. Winners of major championships from the past four years are also eligible (no word specifically on cut-makers at “Golf’s Fifth Major,” the ‘Cuda). Will the PGA Tour’s deterrence work? Or did LIV miscalculate, knowing that a stateside broadcast would trigger a fierce response?

Some players with conditional tour status may be willing to gamble, but those with realistic chances to earn PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour starts won’t likely risk it. Status on any Tour is expensive to earn and harder than ever to keep. Korn Ferry Tour players can practically feel the weight of a PGA Tour card in their hands. Eligible KFT players for Promotions are those in the top 30 on the season-long points race, or ranked within the top 300 in the Data Golf world rankings. Americas Tour players don’t meet those criteria unless they’ve won on another tour or broken into the top 300 — a distinction only Michael Brennan currently holds. With no tournaments on the DP World Tour schedule during the Promotions event, members won’t be restricted from teeing it up. 

Top amateurs and college players — seemingly LIV’s main targets — are a more complicated group. With the team format dominating college golf and many players less attuned to the political tensions surrounding LIV, the opportunity for a direct path to LIV could be tempting. Eugenio Chacarra made the leap from Oklahoma State, won early, and later soured on the experience. Meanwhile, Tom McKibbin has shown young players that you can earn your way to Augusta without the PGA Tour. Risking the potential loss of PGA Tour U perks, or a future Q school shot, will be a decision made between players and their management teams.

Last year, Latin Amateur champion Santiago De La Fuente competed in Riyadh, joined by European Amateur runner-up Max Kennedy, top-20 amateur Luis Masaveu, and 2023 NCAA Champion Fred Biondi. But the threat of a future PGA Tour suspension wasn’t in play then, and Biondi narrowly slipped through Q school’s first stage this year.

That leaves the rest: top players from the European, South African, Australian, and Asian Tours; relegated LIV golfers; frustrated PGA Tour members; and Americans who fell short at Q school but are willing to roll the dice for a shot. Only two will graduate to LIV — instantly becoming millionaires — but many more could carve out a living on the International Series. While PGA Tour Q school costs $5,500, LIV paid Promotions competitors $5,000 just to show up the last two years, and is offering a $1.5 million purse this year.

For players like me – desperate to find a place to play, relentlessly hopeful that our breakthrough is one tournament away – the LIV Promotions event may be too enticing to pass up. Whether everyone else will take a risk is a question that has huge implications for the league. 

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