Why LIV golfers cannot play at 2024 Presidents Cup

LIV golfers will be ineligible for selection at the 2024 Presidents Cup.

The star names competing on the Saudi-backed league do not meet the qualifying criteria set out by both Team USA and the International side ahead of the latest biennial match at Royal Montreal next year.

That is because, according to the new qualifying criteria, all 24 players taking part in the Presidents Cup must be eligible to compete in PGA Tour-sanctioned events in the 2024 season.

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As it stands, the likes of Brooks Koepka, Cam Smith and Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson are all indefinitely banned from the PGA Tour, so will not be able to compete in the event which is sanctioned by the American circuit.

LIV golfers were missing from the 2022 match at Quail Hollow, and, unless a change is made during framework agreement talks between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) bankrolling the fledgling enterprise, there will be a LIV-shaped void in 2024 as well.

Koepka has been the only LIV player to compete in one of the eminent team events since the breakaway league started, after the five-time major winner played in the losing US Ryder Cup side at Marco Simone.

The International team, who were defeated 17.5-12.5 at Quail Hollow, were without players including Smith, Louis Oosthuizen, Marc Leishman, Joaquin Niemann and Abraham Ancer.

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It has now been confirmed that the International Team captain Mike Weir has opted to have six wildcard picks at his disposal to complete his team, with the other six sealing their spots via the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

LIV Golf have had their application to secure OWGR accreditation denied.

The International players who qualify automatically must have played in 15 OWGR-accredited events between September 2022 and the BMW Championship in August 2024 to be eligible. Those players will not be penalised for missing events due to injury or personal reasons.

Meanwhile, the US captain Jim Furyk will have six captain’s picks, with the automatic berths determined via a qualifying system for players who have earned the most FedEx Cup Points from January 1, 2023 through to August 25, 2024.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.