The LIV Golf League is making a change to its Promotions Event that will see just a single player earn a place on the 54-hole circuit next year, while the top 10 in the 72-hole competition will be exempt into the 10-tournament International Series that is part of the Asian Tour.
The move means that LIV Golf is limiting access to the league, as three players qualified for the 2024 season through the Promotions Event with another spot going to the winner of the International Series Order of Merit.
LIV Golf unveiled its plans Thursday ahead of the Dec. 12-14 tournament to be played at Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia.
Like last year, the event will be played over three days, with various exemption categories allowing for entry into the first and second day, which will see some players allowed to skip the first round.
The top 20 players advance to the final 36 holes with the winner receiving $200,000 and a place in the LIV Golf League in 2025 along with the leader of the International Series, which is a 10-tournament circuit within the Asian Tour.
The big change to reduce to just one exempt spot is due to the view that the teams would prefer to fill their openings with players they choose rather than be assigned one from the Promotions Event.
“Candidly, the ability for the league to impose players on teams is something we want to move on from,” said a LIV Golf executive who wished not to be identified. “We want the teams to have the autonomy to mature and create their own commercial value. And some of the teams have identified targets. There is a balance of bringing in those who can help sell the team while also adding to the competitive nature at the same time.”
LIV Golf owns 75% of the 13 teams that make up the league, with the captains holding a 25% equity stake. The business model is for LIV Golf to sell the teams as “franchises” to prospective owners.
For now, the plan is to proceed with a 54-player league as LIV did this year, which means there would be two wildcard spots. Those were held this year by Anthony Kim and Hudson Swafford, neither of whom performed very well, finishing near the bottom of the individual standings.
Kim is in line to perhaps be added to one of the teams, while Swafford is not expected back.
In theory, the winner of the Promotions Event along with the leader of the International Series (currently American John Catlin) would get the wildcard spots.
Last year, Kalle Samooja, Kieran Vincent and Jinichiro Kozuma earned the three Promotions spots but both Samooja and Vincent failed to avoid relegation, as they fell outside of the top 48 players. Kozuma was 45th and is not obligated to be resigned by a LIV team.
Andy Ogletree, the former U.S. Amateur champion who won the International Series Order of Merit last year, finished 34th in the individual standings and will be back in 2025 as part of Phil Mickelson’s HyFlyers team.
LIV Golf has yet to announce its free agency window, but there is expected to be some movement among teams and some players will not be retained whose contracts expired and who did not finish among the top 24 in the standings. That would allow the teams to go out and sign players to their team.
For those who fall short of the one Promotions spot, a guaranteed spot in the International Series allows for the opportunity to earn a direct place onto LIV Golf for 2026. The events also have $2 million purses and would also provide some access to the greater Asian Tour schedule.
LIV Golf Promotions 2024 Eligibility Criteria:
Category A: Qualifiers for Round 1
1. Members of the 2023 Walker Cup and 2024 Palmer Cup Teams
2. Winner and runner-up of the following last played amateur events:
a. US Amateur Championship
b. The Amateur Championship
c. Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship
d. Latin America Amateur Championship
e. European Amateur Championship
f. African Amateur Championship
g. NCAA Championship (Individual)
h. Eisenhower Trophy (Individual)
3. Leading 15 available players from within the top 40 World Amateur Golf Rankings as of Nov. 19, 2024 (excluding players exempt into round 2)
4. Leading 25 available players from within the top 40 on the final 2024 International Series Rankings (excluding those exempt into round two)
5. Leading 5 available players from inside the top 10 from each of the following professional tours as of Nov. 19, 2024:
a. Japan Golf Tour
b. KPGA Korean Tour
c. Sunshine Tour
d. PGA Tour of Australasia
6. Leading 30 available players from within the top 300 in The Universal Golf Rankings (TUGR) as of Nov. 19,2024 (excluding those who are exempt into Round 2)
7. Invitations as determined by LIV Golf League
Category B: Exemptions into Round 2
The following players are exempt from Round 1 and are automatically eligible to participate in Round 2:
1. Leading 2 available players from within the top 15 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings as of Nov. 19, 2024
2. Players ranked 2 to 8 on the final 2024 International Series Rankings
3. Top 3 Players from each of the following professional Tours as of Nov. 19, 2024:
a. Japan Golf Tour
b. KPGA Korean Tour
c. Sunshine Tour
d. PGA Tour of Australasia
4. Leading 5 available players from within the top 30 of the Final 2024 DP World Tour and Korn Ferry Tour Order of Merits / Rankings
5. Winners of The International Series and Asian Tour sanctioned tournaments in the 2024 calendar year
6. Winners of Japan Golf Tour, KPGA Korean Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia sanctioned tournaments in the 2024 calendar year
7. Winners of PGA Tour and DP World Tour sanctioned tournaments in the 2023 and 2024 calendar years
8. Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup participants from 2019 – 2024
9. Winners of Major Championships from 2019 – 2024
10. Leading 15 available players from within the top 150 in The Universal Golf Rankings (TUGR) as of November 19,2024
11. Players relegated or without a contract for the following season from the final 2024 LIV Golf Individual Standings
12. Invitations as determined by LIV Golf League
This article was originally published on www.si.com as LIV Golf Qualifier to Only Advance One Player, While Anthony Kim Could Remain in League.