LIV Golf unveils promotions event (a.k.a. Q-School) with a few new wrinkles

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LIV Golf’s most recent denial of Official World Golf Ranking points, included OWGR chairman Peter Dawson describing the league as a “closed shop.” That won’t be the case anymore.

On Thursday, the Saudi-backed tour unveiled details about its new promotions event. And golf fans can think of it as Q School – with a few major wrinkles.

Whether this helps secure recognition from the OWGR in the future remains to be seen. In the meantime, we now know that LIV Golf Promotions will be held December 8-10 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and will establish a clear method for players from around the world to earn three spots in the league.

“LIV Golf Promotions establishes an integrated pathway for the best players and up-and-coming talent from all over the globe to join a league that is changing the game,” LIV Golf commissioner and CEO Greg Norman said in a statement.

“Open competition and meritocracy have always been a part of the fabric of LIV Golf, and following the success of our first full, 14-event season, we’re excited to be able to launch LIV Golf Promotions and offer players from around the world the chance to qualify for 2024.”

So what are the wrinkles we mentioned? Well, for one, the league based on 54-hole events will be using a 72-hole format. However, much of the field will only play the final 54 holes, 36 of which will be contested on the final day.

Then there’s the matter of the prizemoney, which totals $US1.5 million. The winner will receive $200,000, which is four times what last year’s Korn Ferry Tour Q School winner, Bo Hoag, received. Runner-up gets $150K and third place gets $100K. More importantly, those three players get drafted(!) onto a team for LIV’s lucrative events in 2024. In addition to prizemoney, finishers 4-10 will also receive full exemption for all events on the International Series on the Asian Tour.

So who is eligible to compete? Let’s copy and paste this part from the press release, because it’s a lot:

Category A: Qualifiers for Round 1

  1. Members of the 2023 Walker and Palmer Cup Teams
  2. Winner and runner-up of the following most recent amateur events:
    1. US Amateur Championship
    2. The Amateur Championship
    3. Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (October 29)
    4. Latin America Amateur Championship
    5. European Amateur Championship
    6. NCAA Championship (Individual)
    7. Eisenhower Trophy (Individual)
  3. Leading 15 available players from within the top 40 WAGR rankings as of November 20, 2023 (excluding players exempt into round 2)
  4. Leading 25 available players from within the top 40 on the final International Series 2023 Rankings, (excluding those exempt into round two)
  5. Leading 3 available players from inside the top 5 from each of the following professional Tours as of November 20, 2023
    1. Japan Golf Tour (Money Ranking inc. Majors)
    2. KPGA Korean Tour (Genesis Point Ranking)
    3. Sunshine Tour
    4. PGA Tour of Australasia
  6. Tournament winners from the Asian Tour in 2023 and Korn Ferry Tour in 2023
  7. Leading 30 available players from within the top 300 in The Universal Golf Rankings (TUGR) as of November 20, 2023 (excluding those who are exempt into Round 2)
  8. Event invitations as determined by LIV Golf League

And if you’re in the top 20 and ties after Round 1, you get to move onto Round 2, which will include these eligible golfers:

Category B: Byes into Round 2
The following players are exempt from Round 1 and are automatically eligible to participate in Round 2:

  1. The top 2 players in the WAGR rankings as of November 20, 2023
  2. Players ranked 2 to 8 on the final International Series 2023 Rankings
  3. Leading 5 available players from within the top 30 of the Final 2023 DP World Tour and Korn Ferry Tour Order of Merits / Rankings
  4. Winners of PGA TOUR and DP World Tour sanctioned tournaments in the 2022 and 2023 calendar years
  5. Ryder Cup and President’s Cup participants from 2019-2023
  6. Winners of Major Championships from 2019-2023
  7. The leading 15 available players from within the top 150 in The Universal Golf Rankings (TUGR) as of November 20, 2023
  8. Players relegated or without a contract for the following season from the Final 2023 LIV Golf Individual Standings
  9. Event invitations as determined by LIV Golf League

After 36 holes, the top 20 will advance once again to a marathon 36-hole final day to determine the final results. The top three finishers will join the winner of the 2023 International Series (expected to be 2019 US Amateur champ Andy Ogletree).

Those four players will replace the four golfers relegated (Chase Koepka, Jed Morgan, James Piot and Sihwan Kim) following LIV’s 2023 season. Unless, of course, any of those four play their way into the top three at LIV Golf Promotions. Got all that? OK, good.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com