Why LIV Golf's Qualifying Event Only Has a Smattering of PGA Tour Players

The PGA Tour didn't prohibit players from competing in the Saudi-backed league's qualifier but its rules on media releases were still in play.

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LIV Golf will have its first Promotions event this week in Abu Dhabi, and the entries can safely be viewed as underwhelming. Jason Dufner is the only former major champion in the field and he will be joined by a smattering of players who have or had PGA Tour status as well as those on the DP World Tour.

A good number of the 73-player field is coming from the Asian Tour—which has a relationship with LIV Golf. A few undisclosed players from the PGA Tour had entered the event but withdrew when they were not given media rights releases, as is required by the PGA Tour.

The problem is two-fold: LIV’s late announcement of the event and the PGA Tour saying that the tournament was not an "unauthorized tournament," meaning players were free to enter.

But timing is everything. The Tour put out the word that it would be O.K. to play in the Promotions event on Nov. 4. LIV Golf announced the event on Oct. 27. Tour rules require seeking a release 45 days prior to the tournament. And that presents a math issue.

Kevin Chappell, a winner of one event on the PGA Tour, is playing in LIV Golf's Promotions event :: Raymond Carlin III/USA TODAY Sports

LIV only announced the tournament 48 days out; the Tour’s announcement that it would allow players to participate without penalty came within the 45-day window.

Players who decided to play with a release were facing a minimum month suspension and fines. Some decided it wasn’t worth it.

As it is, the event will have a first day with approximately 60 players, with the top 20 players advancing to Saturday’s round where they will join nine players who are exempt into that second day. From there, the top 20 players advance to Sunday’s 36-hole final where scores reset and the top three players will earn a spot in the LIV Golf League.

Dufner and Kevin Chappell are among the players who received byes into the second day. Victor Dubuisson, Scott Hend, Kyle Stanley, James Piot and Martin Trainer are other players who might be familiar.

The event is potentially lucrative as the winner receives $200,000, with $150,000 to second place and $100,000 to third. Then those players will be assured of $120,000 per week for each of the 13 individual events as part of the LIV schedule. Players who finish fourth through 10th will be fully exempt into the International Series events, which are part of the Asian Tour.

A Few Other Things ...

> It was quite the weekend for LIV Golf players. Joaquin Niemann captured the Australian Open while Dean Burmester won for the second straight week in his native South Africa, taking the South African Open after winning the Joburg Classic last week. The Australian Open and the South African Open are both co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour.

> As Golf Digest reported, the United States Golf Association and the R&A are expected to announce their decision this week on a rollback of the golf ball that would be impacted based on testing criteria, mostly for high-rate swing speeds. It appears, however, that there will not be a Model Local Rule as first had been proposed. That would have seen elite players compete with a scaled-back ball while others could use what is accepted now. This rollback would be for all and opinions on this topic are wide-ranging.

> Viktor Hovland wasn’t able to win the Hero World Challenge for the third straight year, but he did shoot a final-round 63, the low score of the week. … Justin Thomas was expected to move up a spot to 26th in the world in an effort to solidify a spot among the top 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking. That is one of the paths into the signature events in 2024. ... Tiger Woods, who was a career-low 1,328th in the world, got 2.4 points for his 18th-place finish and moved up to 898th in the world—his highest since returning at the 2022 Masters.

> The start to the 2024 PGA Tour season at the Sentry begins in 31 days. And the first round of the Masters is 129 days away.