Why a Qualifying Tournament Could Be an Important Part of LIV Golf’s Future

Anthony Kim was one of three to earn 2026 LIV Golf wild card spots via a qualifying tournament that runs counter to the league’s model, Bob Harig writes.

Anthony Kim delivered a good story for LIV Golf as he returned to the league via its Promotions qualifier after being relegated out in 2025. / Jeff Swinger-Imagn Images

LECANTO, Fla. — Given all the places the LIV Golf League travels to around the world, the juxtaposition with its Promotions event all but played in the middle of nowhere is stark.

Black Diamond Ranch in Citrus County, Fla., could hardly be more remote, a private community some 80 miles from Tampa and Orlando designed nearly 40 years ago to attract homebuyers.

It is a long way from Riyadh and Adelaide and Singapore and Hong Kong and Johannesburg and Mexico City, some of the more exotic and intriguing locales that the controversial league will visit in 2026.

The event is also in contrast to the LIV model, which going on its fifth year has disrupted the pro game with a concept meant to attract as many of the game’s biggest names as possible and showcase them around the world, while paying them enormous sums to sign on and offering huge purses each week with no cut.

That’s what makes the Promotions tournament so different—and likely important—to the league’s future.

Instead of handpicking players and paying them big upfront money to play, the Promotions event that concluded Sunday is far more basic, a qualifying tournament that saw the top three players earn a spot in the LIV Golf League for 2026.

MORE: Final scores, results from LIV Golf Promotions

Canada’s Richard T. Lee earned medalist honors—and $200,000—and the chance to compete for far more with LIV’s $20 million purses. A three-time winner on the Asian Tour with another three victories in Korea, Lee, 35, will now be in position for far more riches.

So will Sweden’s Bjorn Hellgren, who played with former LIV golfer Brooks Koepka at Florida State and counts former LIV captain Henrik Stenson as a mentor. Hellgren turned pro in 2013, a year after Koepka, but their careers went in far different directions. Hellgren, 35, won multiple times on the Nordic Golf League and Swedish Golf Tour and last month won the Saudi Open on the Asian Tour. Now he’s got a shot at life-changing money.

Anthony Kim’s story will continue

And then there is Anthony Kim, who admirably achieved the third spot after being gifted a place on LIV Golf the last two years. The former PGA Tour star who played in the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup went 12 years without playing competitive golf before returning with a LIV Golf contract in 2024.

He fared poorly—Kim never earned a point on LIV which required finishes of top 24 or better—and was relegated off the league for finishing outside of the top 48 players in 2025. To his credit, he entered the qualifying event, made the Friday cut by a stroke and then shot 66-69 on the weekend to grab the third and final spot.

“There’s a ton of satisfaction,” said Kim, who battled addiction issues and barely played golf during his time away. “A ton. I’m sure I’ll understand that all that work has really shown this week, maybe later tonight when I’m drinking an iced tea.

“But yeah, it means a lot to me because three years ago, doctors had told me that I potentially had two weeks to live. So just to be here standing in front of you guys is a blessing. I’m so grateful that God has given me this opportunity to showcase what I’m best at, and hopefully I’ll be holding a trophy soon.”

Anthony Kim said golf was part of his rehab process, and now he'll play a third season in LIV Golf. / Jeff Swinger-Imagn Images

Kim said that he had only been playing golf for a few months at this point two years ago when overtures to return surfaced.

“I had probably grinded for about three and a half months before I teed it up in my first event. I had heard that both tours were interested in having me,” he said. “I really didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to play. I had such bad feelings about the game of golf because of the mental state I was in when I was playing golf.

“But part of my rehab process was to get outside and enjoy the weather and be in nature. Spending time with my wife and daughter became a key to me getting back into the game.

“This is a surreal moment for me because other people obviously outside of my inner circle doubted me, but I would be lying to say that I didn't know if I would ever earn my way back.” 

Kim, Lee and Hellgren will join the two players who qualified for the LIV Golf League via the International Series, Scott Vincent and Yosuke Asaji, who will make up a group of five “wild card” players competing apart from the 13 four-member teams.

LIV Golf’s changes for 2026 include more players, more holes

LIV Golf announced last month that it would be increasing its field size to 57 players.

That move, along with a switch to 72-hole events and more pathways via Promotions and the International Series, are viewed as ways to appease the Official World Golf Ranking, which is reviewing LIV’s application.

Scott O’Neil, LIV’s CEO, has made it a point to try and get accredited in time for the start of LIV’s season next month in Riyadh.

And yet, LIV could have done even more. The top 10 players and ties here also received exemptions into the International Series, which is a 10-event schedule as part of the Asian Tour.

Leaning into these pathways is another storyline that—while not as big as the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson and other LIV stars—not only helps with the OWGR quest but allows for those not handpicked to have dreams of competing for riches.

There had been some conjecture that LIV Golf would add players this season either via direct access from the Asian Tour points list or via a weekly qualifier, aspects that would be well received in the larger golf world but not adopted. Getting in a LIV event with a chance to earn a $4 million winner’s payday—however remote—adds intrigue.

So did Sunday’s final quest for the top three spots. While Kim’s story has been well chronicled, Lee has been toiling around the world for 15 years, his $200,000 winner’s check on Sunday the biggest of his career.

A top-20 finish in a LIV event will earn him that much and more.

Hellgren earned $150,000 for finishing second and acknowledged an entire new world awaits.

“I can't believe it right now. It's hard to comprehend,” he said. “I'm very fortunate to be able to play with those (LIV players) sometimes on the International Series. But I'm probably going to be very nervous when we're standing there in Riyadh on the first event. It's awesome. It's so cool. I think it shows to all the guys that were in my position or are in my position that you're only a few weeks away from changing your life.

“I won a couple of weeks ago in Saudi, and that got me on to this thing. It's crazy.”

Black Diamond is far removed from the big time and yet it offered a chance to dream, however remote it might be.

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