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Ripper GC’s Matt Jones was listed under “players relegated or without a contract for the following season” when LIV Golf released the field and other details for its qualifying school in Florida next month.

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LIV Golf Promotions will field 13 Australian golfers, including Jones, among 87 players competing for two spots on the 2026 LIV Golf League, as well as 10 places on the Asian Tour’s International Series.

On Tuesday, LIV released the field for the January 8–11 tournament and Australians who were entered for the 72-hole event at Black Diamond Ranch in Florida included: Travis Smyth, Cory Crawford, Matias Sanchez, Harrison Crowe, Cameron John, Will Florimo, Anthony Quayle, Jack Buchanan, Jason Scrivener, Brett Drewitt, Wade Ormsby, Christopher Wood, and Jones.

Jones, a two-time PGA Tour winner and dual Australian Open champion, had been playing on Ripper GC but finished 40th on LIV’s 2025 individual standings – despite a T-4 at LIV Golf Andalucia and a next best finish of T-17 in Mexico.

He was placed into what LIV calls its “Open Zone” for the off-season. But the 45-year-old Sydney golfer was listed under the LIV Golf Promotions entry category of “players relegated or without a contract for the following season from the final 2025 LIV Golf Individual Standings.”

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The 87 entrants feature a mix of current PGA Tour of Australasia players, International Series performers, tournament winners from 2025, and former LIV Golf competitors. Wood enters as the current No.1-ranked player on the PGA Tour of Australasia, while Adelaide’s Ormsby is exempt into the second round via his International Series ranking.

Players who finished the 2025 LIV Golf season 25th–48th (Open Zone) or 49th–54th (relegated) without a 2026 team contract are eligible to compete in the event, providing a pathway back into the league.

LIV Golf Promotions will feature players from 24 countries, including from the Asian Tour, DP World Tour, PGA Tour of Australasia, Japan Golf Tour, Sunshine Tour, and LIV Golf League. The field includes multiple recent tour winners, elite amateurs, and former Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup players.

The tournament is contested over 72 holes of stroke play, with a progressive cut system designed to reduce the field across the opening two days before a final 36-hole stage.

Round one is played on Thursday, January 8, with the top 20 players and ties advancing, after which scores are reset. Those players are joined in round two on Friday by a group of competitors who are automatically exempt into day two. After round two, scores are reset again, with the top 20 players and ties advancing to the weekend. The final two rounds, played on Saturday and Sunday, make up a 36-hole event that determines final positions.

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At the conclusion of play, the top two finishers earn places in the 2026 LIV Golf League, along with prize money of $US200,000 ($A304,000) for first place and $US150,000 ($A228,000) for second. The top 10 finishers, including ties, receive full exemption into the 2026 International Series, sanctioned by the Asian Tour.