Unexpectedly, the PGA Tour will permit its players to compete in an upcoming LIV Golf event.
Tour players can participate in the LIV Golf Promotions event next month without facing any penalties, as initially reported by Sports Illustrated’s Alex Miceli and verified by GOLF.com on Saturday. The top three finishers in this event will receive a spot in the 48-player LIV tour the following year. LIV Golf events were previously considered “unauthorized events” by the PGA Tour, and participation in them carried a one-year suspension from the Tour.
The Promotions event, however, “is determined to be a qualifying event only and not a part of an unauthorized series,” according to a statement from the Tour, so there will be no suspension. Here is the full statement from the Tour:
It is concluded that the LIV Golf Promotion event is merely a qualifying event and not a part of an unapproved series based on the information that is currently available to the public. Thus, the event sponsored by LIV Golf Promotion does not fall under the category of “unauthorized tournament.” Should the event’s specifics alter, this classification may also change.
The Promotion event, though, still appears to be the only LIV event that PGA Tour players can play — meaning that should they finish in the top three, they’ll have a decision. Over email, GOLF.com also asked a Tour official whether there had been a change in the Tour’s “unauthorized tournament” rule, and the question went unanswered.
The rule reads as such:
“Any player who has participated in an unauthorized tournament is ineligible to compete in any event sanctioned by the PGA Tour for a period of one year, from the final round of competition of the unauthorized tournament in which he participated.”
The Tour’s declaration is surprising. And maybe revealing.
For one year and two seasons, the Tour and LIV Golf have battled, with players leaving the established brand for the upstart, and various shots being thrown. Then came June. And the biggest stunner: Tour commissioner Jay Monahan was sitting next to Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund — which has backed LIV. The two sides had come to a proposed deal that would create a for-profit entity operated by the sides.
Key here is the word ‘proposed.’ The agreement on the Tour side needs approval, and there’s been little word on the negotiations. But could this recent decision be a signal of where things are headed?
Maybe. You’re not wrong in thinking this feels like an olive branch. Or it could be nothing.
As for the Promotions event, it will be played across three days (Dec. 8 to 10) and 72 holes at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in the United Arab Emirates. Entry is $25, it’s open to various, predetermined players, and the purse will be $1.5 million.
Very likely, the Tour’s decision should spike interest. Players can play, then decide — though you’d think the choice would be relatively obvious should they travel to the Middle East and either win or finish in the top three.
Players at the Volvo China Open were curious about the entry list prior to the announcement. The International Series of the LIV Golf League and the Asian Tour co-sanction that event.
“We have all seen the exemption categories, of course, but we have no idea who will play,” stated Andy Ogletree, the leader of the Asian Tour standings heading into next year’s LIV Golf.
The fact that some players might be concerned about losing their current status makes for fascinating observation.
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