Former major champion Jason Dufner is among more than 70 players scheduled to compete in the LIV Golf Promotions tournament that will be held in Abu Dhabi from Dec. 8-10.
Dufner, who won the 2013 PGA Championship, has fallen to 543rd in the Official World Golf Ranking. The 46-year-old has not posted a top 10 worldwide since 2019 and has missed nine of 26 cuts this year.
However, he is still one of the most recognizable names in the field announced by LIV on Thursday.
Other notable names include France’s Victor Dubuisson, who played for Europe in the Ryder Cup, Irish amateurs Max Kennedy and Ryan Griffin and 22-year-old Sampson-Yunhe Zheng. Zheng is the highest-ranked amateur in the field and finished second at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.
“I’ve been following the league closely this year, and the opportunity to play team golf with some of the best players in the game is very special,” Zheng said. “LIV Golf provides a great environment for players to build their career whilst sharpening their game, and I’m excited to compete and make that dream a reality.”
Sihwan Kim, Chase Koepka, Jed Morgan and James Piot will be trying to regain their LIV spots after being relegated this year.
LIV Golf Promotions will be held over four rounds across three days at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club and includes a $1.5 million prize purse. The top three finishers will be drafted onto an LIV Golf League team before the season-opening event at Mayakoba in Mexico from Feb. 2-4, 2024.
The first round will include 59 players, with the top 20 and ties advancing to the second round. The scores will be then reset.
Dufner, 46, and the quartet of relegated LIV players are among 14 players exempted into the second round. That group also includes former PGA Tour winner Kevin Chappell and England’s Laurie Canter, who tied for second at the 2021 BMW PGA Championship.
After 36 holes, the top 20 players will advance to compete for the three available spots over 36 holes on the final day. Players who finish Nos. 4-10 will be fully exempt for all 2024 events on The International Series sanctioned by the Asian Tour.
–Field Level Media