Will LIV Golfers play in major championships next year? Automatic exemption, eligibility scenarios explored

LIV golfer's chances of competing in the major tournaments next year is currently in a dilemma. While some of the Saudi circuit will make it to the men's major next year because of auto-qualification, some will be looking for a way to make things happen in their favor.

Due to the OWGR's rejection of the LIV golfer's application earlier this month, majority of Saudi circuit players found it difficult to retain their world rankings and automatically qualify for major tournaments.

But LIV golfers like Brooks Koepka, the 2023 PGA Championship winner, are automatically qualified for the major. As past champions, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, and Dustin Johnson are among the other LIV golfers who hold lifetime exemptions to the Masters. Because Koepka won a major in 2023, he also met the requirements for automatic qualification for the Masters and other majors.

Mickelson is qualified to compete at the PGA Championship because previous winners are also permitted to compete at the major. As the winners of the previous 10 years' competition automatically qualified for the 2024 US Open, Bryson DeChambeau is eligible to participate in the event. The 2016 US Open champion Dustin Johnson has also qualified for the major.

However, if there are changes in the qualification criteria for the majors in 2024, LIV golfers will struggle to secure their spots.

---

“We are in the process of reviewing" - R&A executive talks about The Open Championship qualification criteria

Recently, a report was circulated that LIV golfers had a chat with R&A to allow the Saudi circuit players to compete at The Open Championship in 2024.

The Chief Executive of R&A, Martin Slumbers, opened up about the same in his recent interview with Golf Monthly and said:

“We are in the process of reviewing our exemptions and conditions of entry for The Open Championship for next year, as we always do. We will publish those in early 2024. As I've stated a number of times, our conditions are designed in a way to create pathways for the very best players in the world to compete for The Open Championship next year at Royal Troon.”

Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Fred Ridley also commented on changes in the qualification criteria of the Masters. He said over the years, they have implemented numerous changes in their qualification criteria. However, at this time, they do not anticipate any changes.

He said:

“If you look back over the history of the Masters Tournament and the qualifications that existed, we have changed those qualifications numerous times, dozens of times. We look at those every year. We don't make changes every year but we do look at them under the current circumstances. And so while we do not at this time anticipate making any changes in 2024, you know, we do always look at them and we will continue to do that.”

There is a good chance that LIV golfers will compete at the major tournaments in 2024.