LIV Golf has announced this Thursday that it will once again organise a Qualifying School to access its circuit in 2025. However, many things are changing: the date, the venue, and the number of spots allocated for entry. In short, it devalues its own school.
The promotion tournament, as they call it, will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 12th to 14th December. It will be four rounds over three days, as 36 holes will be played on the final day. A year ago, the school took place in January and the venue was the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
However, the main change relates to the number of LIV Golf spots offered. They have gone from the three awarded last January, won by Kalle Samooja, Jinichiro Kozuma, and Kieran Vincent, to just one this year. Only the winner of the School will earn a place in LIV Golf. It seems a very abrupt cut and, undoubtedly, makes this promotion much less attractive than a year ago.
To compensate for this decrease, they have decided that the top ten finishers and ties will receive a full card for the International Series tournaments, which are part of the Asian Tour calendar and have a prize fund of one and a half million euros. In any case, it is a much less attractive alternative for a professional golfer than the DP World Tour or, of course, the PGA Tour.
The competition structure of the LIV school will follow the same parameters as a year ago. After the first 18 holes, the top 20 finishers and ties will advance. The scores will be reset, and those who have progressed will join other players who will enter directly in the second day of competition, exempt from the first day, and again the top 20 and ties will qualify for the final day of 36 holes. Once the final double round is over, the winner will receive a cheque for 200,000 dollars and the LIV Golf card. The winner will join the champion of the International Series, currently led by John Catlin, and will be eligible for a LIV team.
The exemptions for the first round of the School are:
– Members of the Walker Cup and Palmer Cup teams in 2023 and 2024.
– Champion and runner-up of the US Amateur, British Amateur, Asia Pacific Amateur Championship, Latin America Amateur Championship, European Amateur Championship, Africa Amateur Championship, NCAA Championship, and Eisenhower Trophy.
– The top 15 amateur golfers in the world ranking within the top 40.
– The top 25 players of the International Series within the top 40.
– The top 5 players within the top 10 of the Japan Tour, Korean Tour, Sunshine Tour, and PGA Tour Australasia.
– The top 30 players within the top 300 of the Universal World Ranking.
– Invitations at the discretion of LIV Golf.
Exemptions for the second round:
– The top two players within the top 15 of the world amateur ranking.
– Players ranked 2nd to 8th in the International Series.
– The top 3 of the Japan Tour, Sunshine Tour, Korean Tour, and PGA Tour Australasia.
– The top 5 within the top 30 of the Race to Dubai and the Korn Ferry Tour.
– Winners of tournaments on the Asian Tour and the International Series in 2024.
– Winners of tournaments on the PGA Tour Australasia, Sunshine Tour, Korean Tour, and Japan Tour in 2024.
– Winners of tournaments on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour in 2023 and 2024.
– Participants in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup between 2019 and 2024.
– The top 15 within the top 150 of the Universal World Ranking.
– Players who were relegated from LIV Golf this year or who do not have a contract for the next season.
– Invitations at the discretion of LIV Golf.
