In its second year, the LIV Golf promotions event will offer just one spot in the 2025 LIV Golf League, rather than the three made available in its initial year.
LIV Golf has shared details of the event, set to be played Dec. 12-14 at Riyadh Golf Club in Saudi Arabia.
The format will be similar to the first year of the promotions event, with three days of golf deciding the one player to earn an automatic spot in next year's league, which is expected to have 54 players.
The field will have a staggered start, with some players qualifying automatically for the second round of the event, while others are forced to survive an 18-hole shootout in the first round to advance. On Day 2, a second 18-hole round is played with the mixed field of Round 1 qualifiers and exempt players, with the top 20 players moving on to the 36-hole final day, with those final-day scores determining the winner of the LIV Golf League spot and the $200,000 winner's share of the $1,500,000 purse.
The top 10 finishers, excluding the champion, will be exempt into the Asian Tour's International Series, a 10-event slate that is integrated into the tour schedule, has its own order of merit and offers minimum $2 million purses.
The reason for the reduction in spots appears to be some pushback from the LIV Golf League players themselves, who would prefer to recruit new players to the league rather than being assigned them as a result of the promotions event. In 2023, Kalle Samooja, Kieran Vincent and Jinichiro Kozuma earned the three promotions spots. However, Samooja and Vincent were relegated after they finished outside the top 48 in the season-long points race. Kozuma finished 45th -- outside of the top 24, who are guaranteed their place for 2025 -- and is considered a free agent that is not guaranteed to be signed by one of the 13 LIV Golf teams.
In addition to the winner of the promotions event, the top player in the Asian Tour International Series -- currently American John Catlin -- will earn a spot in the 2025 LIV Golf League. With the expected return of two wild-card players, unaffiliated with any team, in 2025, the promotions winner and the International Series winner could fill those slots.
The two wild-card players in 2024, Anthony Kim and Hudson Swafford, are not expected to return in that capacity. Swafford is expected to exit LIV Golf, while Kim is expected to land with one of the 13 teams.
2025 LIV Golf promotions field criteria
Round 1 Qualifiers
1. Members of the 2023 Walker Cup and 2024 Palmer Cup Teams
2. Winner and runner-up of the most recent US Amateur, The Amateur Championship, Asia-Pacific Amateur, Latin America Amateur, European Amateur, African Amateur, NCAA Division I individual championship, Eisenhower Trophy
3. Leading 15 available players from within the top 40 World Amateur Golf Rankings as of Nov. 19, 2024 (excluding Round 1-exempt players)
4. Leading 25 available players from within the top 40 on the final 2024 International Series rankings (excluding Round 1-exempt players)
5. Leading 5 available players from inside the top 10 of the rankings of the Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and KPGA Korean Tour as of Nov. 19, 2024
6. Leading 30 available players from within the top 300 in The Universal Golf Rankings (TUGR) as of Nov. 19,2024 (excluding Round 1-exempt players)
7. LIV Golf League invitations
Exemptions into Round 2
1. Leading 2 available players from within the top 15 on the World Amateur Golf Rankings as of Nov. 19, 2024
2. Nos. 2-8 on the final 2024 International Series Rankings
3. Top 3 Players from each of the rankings of the Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia and KPGA Korean Tour as of Nov. 19, 2024
4. Leading 5 available players from within the top 30 of the Final 2024 DP World Tour and Korn Ferry Tour Order of Merits / Rankings
5. Winners of 2024 International Series events and Asian Tour-sanctioned tournaments in the 2024 calendar year
6. Winners of Japan Golf Tour, KPGA Korean Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, Sunshine Tour and PGA Tour of Australasia-sanctioned tournaments in calendar year 2024
7. Winners of PGA Tour and DP World Tour-sanctioned tournaments in calendar years 2023 and 2024
8. Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup participants from 2019–2024
9. Major championship winners from 2019–2024
10. Leading 15 available players from within the top 150 in The Universal Golf Rankings (TUGR) as of November 19, 2024
11. Players relegated or without a contract for the following season from the final 2024 LIV Golf individual standings
12. LIV Golf League invitations
