LIV Golf has announced this week the exemption criteria to play in its qualifying school for 2026. According to these conditions, there are eight Spanish players who could currently access the well-known LIV Golf Promotions.
In the first round of the School, Pablo Ereño could enter as a member of the international team of the Arnold Palmer Cup 2025, Jorge Campillo, due to his position in the top 300 of the world ranking compiled by Data Golf Rankings, and Rafa Cabrera Bello, for the same reason as Campillo. The player from Extremadura is ranked 191st and the Canary Islander is in 279th position. A note: it is the top 300 as of December 15th, so it could change in the coming days, especially in the case of Cabrera Bello, who is not far off.
Additionally, five of our players would directly enter the second round of the Saudi league’s School: Eugenio Chacarra, Alex del Rey, Nacho Elvira, and Ángel Hidalgo, as winners of tournaments on the DP World Tour in 2024 and 2025, as well as Ángel Ayora, for being among the top 150 of the Data Golf Ranking, specifically ranked 91st. Furthermore, it should be noted that LIV Golf, as every year, reserves the right to invite whoever they deem appropriate to any of these first two rounds of their School, so some more names could still enter. In any case, only these eight players meet the entry requirements.
That said, obviously the next step would be for them to want to play in that qualifying school. None of them have done so until now, and practically no one in their position in previous years. One thing is to wait for a contract offer, and quite another is to expose oneself to participating in a school that is really very demanding and where there are not many chances of success.
We remind you of the format of the LIV Golf Promotions:
– It will be played from January 8th to 11th in Florida, at the Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto. The first major change is that it will be held over four rounds instead of three as in previous years.
– After the first day, a cut is made with the top 20 who will join those exempted who enter directly into the second round.
– The results are reset and after the second day, another cut is made with the top 20 and ties.
– The results are reset again and the qualifiers will play two rounds of 18 holes, one each day, to determine which two players gain access to LIV Golf. Last year the prize was reserved only for the winner, while two years ago two spots were given. That is, it increases compared to last year, but decreases compared to the first edition of the LIV Golf Promotions.
By the way, the possibility of a new team appearing in LIV Golf for the 2026 season is gaining traction, composed precisely of players coming from the LIV Golf Promotions and the International Series, whose ranking also offers two spots this year.
