PGA Tour members who compete in LIV Golf qualifier in Florida would face disciplinary action
The PGA Tour isn’t relaxing its rules when it comes to LIV Golf.
The Tour confirmed to both Sports Illustrated and Golf Digest on Tuesday that it would not grant any golfer a conflicting event or media rights release in order to compete in the LIV Golf Promotions event in Florida in January. Any Tour member that does opt to play in this event will face disciplinary action.
Any non-Tour member that chooses to try and qualify for LIV Golf in January would also be subject to a one-year ban from Tour-sanctioned events. That includes Monday qualifiers, sponsor exemptions and more.
The North American event rule dates back to 2022 during LIV Golf’s inaugural season, when several notable Tour golfers made the jump over to LIV, and then faced discipline and suspension from the Tour as a result.
The last two Promotions events, however, were held in Saudi Arabia. Since they were held outside of North America, players with Tour status of some kind were allowed to compete in it if they were granted a release. But on Monday, LIV Golf announced that it would be holding its qualifying event for the 2026 season at the Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto, Florida, starting on Jan. 8.
The Promotions event carries a $ 1.5 million purse, and the top 10 finishers will earn fully exempt status on the International Series — which are several events on the Asian Tour. LIV Golf and the Asian Tour have partnered up in an effort to provide a pathway to LIV and elevate certain events on that circuit.
The top two finishers will earn a spot on the LIV Golf circuit in 2026, which starts in Saudi Arabia in February. LIV Golf announced on Tuesday that it would be expanding to a traditional 72-hole format in 2026, too, as part of an effort to start earning Official World Golf Rankings points.
While the Promotions event would be a good way to earn a spot with LIV, it doesn’t sound like any Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Champions or PGA Tour Americas golfers will be competing. At least, they won’t be doing so with permission.
The Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which backs LIV Golf, have not met in months regarding the supposed partnership between the two leagues — which was announced more than two years ago now. The Tour reportedly turned down a $ 1.5 billion offer from the PIF earlier this year, and there were meetings with President Donald Trump at the White House about it, too.
Whether the two sides can ever come together and actually settle on a deal still remains to be seen. Clearly, though, the Tour and LIV Golf aren’t ready to work together on the course just yet.
