LIV Golf expands qualifying pathways for 2026 season

LIV Golf on Monday announced expanded qualification opportunities for players aiming to join its 2026 League, increasing the number of available spots through both the LIV Golf Promotions tournament and The International Series. (LIV Golf)
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Updated 03 November 2025
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LIV Golf expands qualifying pathways for 2026 season

  • In addition, LIV Golf will double its exemptions via The International Series, granting League spots to the top two players in the final 2025 rankings not already exempt

LONDON: LIV Golf on Monday announced expanded qualification opportunities for players aiming to join its 2026 League, increasing the number of available spots through both the LIV Golf Promotions tournament and The International Series.

The League confirmed that the top two finishers at LIV Golf Promotions, to be held Jan. 8–11 at Black Diamond Ranch in Florida, will earn full-season places in the 2026 LIV Golf League. Registrations are now open at LIVGolf.com for professionals and elite amateurs worldwide.

The top 10 finishers in the event, including ties, will also secure exemptions for the 2026 International Series, which is sanctioned by the Asian Tour.

The four-day, four-round tournament offers a $1.5 million prize purse, with $200,000 awarded to the winner and $150,000 to the runner-up.

“LIV Golf continues to expand pathways for players around the world to qualify into the first truly global golf league,” said LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil.

“As fan interest grows and competition extends across the US, Asia Pacific, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, it’s only natural that we broaden access for talented, ambitious players to earn their way into the league,” he added.

In last year’s event, Jon Rahm claimed victory as the 2025 Individual Champion and his Legion XIII team’s triumphed in the Team Championship.

In addition, LIV Golf will double its exemptions via The International Series, granting League spots to the top two players in the final 2025 rankings not already exempt.

The series, sanctioned by the Asian Tour, has staged events this year in India, Macau, Japan, Morocco, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong, with upcoming stops at the Moutai Singapore Open (Nov. 6–9) and the PIF Saudi International in Riyadh (Nov. 19–22).

Zimbabwe’s Scott Vincent leads the rankings with 325.59 points, followed by the Philippines’ Miguel Tabuena on 221.19.

“We offer a proven pathway onto the LIV Golf League, and with this season’s route offering not one but two opportunities to progress, there is a real life-changing opportunity for our players,” said Rahul Singh, head of The International Series.

“Our goal is to create chances for regional and emerging talent to compete alongside proven champions, and recent results show that standards across the Asian Tour are rising rapidly.”

The 2026 LIV Golf Promotions tournament will feature four rounds of 18-hole stroke play, with scores resetting after each of the first two rounds.

The top 20 players from each stage will advance, culminating in a 36-hole shootout over the final two days to determine the two players who will graduate to the League.


Morocco part company with coach Regragui as World Cup looms

Updated 06 March 2026
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Morocco part company with coach Regragui as World Cup looms

RABAT: Morocco parted company with coach Walid Regragui on Thursday, three months before the World Cup, with the country’s football federation naming Mohamed Ouahbi as his replacement.
Regragui leaves despite having led the Atlas Lions to the World Cup semifinals in 2022 and to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations at the beginning of this year.
“I leave my post with loyalty, gratitude, and the certainty that I have served my country,” he declared during a ceremony broadcast live on television, confirming weeks of persistent rumors that he was on his way out.
Ouahbi, 49, is promoted to the role having overseen Morocco’s triumph at the Under-20 World Cup in October, with the federation describing the move as “a strategic transition” in the run-up to the World Cup in North America in June and July.
“It’s a desire not to waste time and to take a different direction,” a source close to the Moroccan Federation told AFP.
“By appointing Mohamed Ouahbi and welcoming top-tier reinforcements, we are raising our standards and our demands,” the source said.
Morocco will be in Group C at the World Cup along with five-time winners Brazil, Scotland and Haiti.
They begin their campaign against Brazil at the MetLife Stadium just outside New York City on June 13 and will be hoping to make a big impression at the tournament before co-hosting the 2030 edition with Spain and Portugal.
“Our ambition is to consolidate our place among the best nations in a sustainable way and to perform well from this summer, as well as in 2030,” the leader of the Moroccan federation, Fouzi Lekjaa, said recently.
Regragui was hailed in 2022 after Morocco became the first African nation in World Cup history to reach the semifinals, beating Spain and Portugal along the way.
However, Regragui likely paid the ultimate price for the manner in which Morocco lost the recent AFCON final to Senegal.
His team were beaten 1-0 after extra-time at the end of a match marred by the Senegal team’s decision to walk off the pitch in protest at the award of a controversial late penalty to the hosts.
The penalty award with the game goalless sparked trouble in the crowd involving Senegal fans, 18 of whom were jailed following the disruption.
Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz eventually took the penalty after a long delay but his kick was saved and Senegal went on to win the game.