[PHOTO: Icon Sportswire]
When the LIV Golf promotion tournament—its version of Qualifying School—begins next month, don’t be surprised to see some familiar names that haven’t yet been associated with the Saudi Arabia-funded league.
As reported by several media outlets on Saturday and confirmed by Golf Digest, the PGA Tour says tour members will be allowed to compete in the qualifying event, to be held from December 8-10 in the United Arab Emirates.
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“Based on the information publicly available regarding the LIV Golf Promotion event, it is determined to be a qualifying event only and not a part of an unauthorised series. Therefore, the LIV Golf Promotion event is not categorised as an ‘Unauthorised Tournament’,” a tour spokesman said in a statement. “This classification is subject to change should the details of the event change.”
The top three finishers in the 72-hole qualifier will be promoted to LIV Golf for 2024. What happens if a PGA Tour player is one of those qualifiers has not yet been determined, since tour players have either been suspended our resigned their tour membership to play for LIV.
The PGA Tour decision comes as the organisation continues to negotiate a potential investment deal with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund that has supplied nearly all of the money for the LIV Golf. The entities announced in June that they established a December 31 deadline to come to an agreement, and there have been few indications of where the negotiations stand.
