The PGA Tour Has a Problem With LIV Golf’s 2026 Qualifier

The LIV Golf League’s decision to play their Promotions event in Florida means it will be deemed an unauthorized event by the PGA Tour, thus any player with PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions or Korn Ferry status will not be granted a media rights release and is subject to disciplinary action if he elects to participate.

LIV Golf on Monday announced that their Promotions event to be played Jan. 8-11 at the Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto, Fla., will see two players earn a spot in the 2026 league lineup.

The issue for the Tour is the tournament site being in North America. The Tour’s regulations state that players will not be granted conflicting events or media releases for tournaments staged in North America.

LIV Golf has yet to respond to a question about whether the league knew this would be the case.

The North America event rule has been an issue going back to LIV’s inaugural season in 2022, when players with PGA Tour status were seeking starts in what was then an individual series of tournaments. LIV’s second tournament was in Portland, Ore., and no player was going to be granted a release for any of the events played in the United States.

The Tour also said Tuesday that players without status—including those who might attempt to compete on PGA Tour Americas—would be subject to a one-year ban from PGA Tour events if they elect to try and qualify for the LIV Golf League.

That rule has also been in play since 2022, which means that non-PGA Tour members who participate in LIV Golf events, including the qualifier, are subject to a one-year ban from any PGA Tour-sanctioned event, which includes Monday qualifiers, sponsor exemptions and the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament.

The previous two Promotions events were held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Players with PGA Tour status were allowed to play if they sought a release before a Tour deadline.

The Promotions event has several exemption criteria in order to enter, with some players being exempt from the first round of the event, which is an 18-hole shootout with the top 20 players advancing to the second day. From there, they join a group of players who were exempt from the first round and start anew, with the top 20 advancing to the final two rounds.

The event has a $1.5 million purse, with $200,000 going to the medalist and $150,000 going to the runner-up.

The top 10 players will earn fully exempt status on the International Series, a group of elevated events on the Asian Tour that is funded by LIV Golf Investments. The top two finishers in a nine-event point series that concludes later this month will also earn spots in the 2026 LIV Golf League.

How those four players will be assimilated into the league is unclear. LIV Golf has not said, although there has been speculation that the four players could form a 14th team as part of the franchise concept.