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Patrick Reed and other LIV Golfers are not allowed to participate in PGA Tour events. Even those who aren't members but play in an LIV event are prohibited from going to a PGA Tour event for a year.
That includes the Korn Ferry Tournament, but why does it include Match Play? This event is a co-sanctioned event which falls under the International Federation of PGA Tours. It's not just a PGA Tour event.
DP World Tour players who defected to LIV Golf or participated in an LIV event were allowed to play in last year's Scottish Open (also a co-sanctioned event) due to a ruling by a judge which effectively served as an injunction.
A decision hasn't been reached in that case. In the meantime, many of these events are allowing LIV members to play, but not the Match Play.
Patrick Reed barred from Match Play, here's why
Patrick Reed was among the few LIV members who registered for the event. He's currently ranked 66th in the world. The event has the top 64, but Justin Thomas and Justin Rose were not participating. That opened two spots and should have made Reed eligible.
In fact, Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Abraham Ancer, Thomas Pieters, Talor Gooch, Harold Varner III, Mito Pereira, Dustin Johnson and Reed all would have been eligible.
Per Sports Illustrated, the tournament's entry application states that the applicants are:
“Subject to acceptance by the Host Tour and the International Federation of PGA Tours and may be rejected or revoked by either without liability at any time before or after commencement of Tournament play if a player fails to meet the eligibility requirements ... (or) violates any of the Tournament Regulations of the Host Tour."
As a result, they have the ability to disallow players as they see fit. Since they already don't want to invite LIV Golf members like Patrick Reed in, this was an easy decision to make.
The Tour released a statement when LIV began gaining traction:
“The PGA Tour has determined that any player who has participated in an event or series of events during the 2022-2023 PGA Tour season that the membership has been informed is not authorized by the PGA Tour is ineligible to compete in any event sanctioned by the PGA Tour for a period of one year from the final round of competition of the unauthorized tournament in which he participated."
Now, it's coming to a head with a few unique events that are either allowing or disallowing LIV members from participation.
Even without Reed, Smith and the rest of the LIV crew that could qualify, the field is stacked. Naturally, the Match Play event has most of the world's top 64 golfers.
That includes Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Max Home, Will Zalatoris (who recently turned down $130 million to join LIV Golf), Collin Morikawa and others.
Scheffler, who is the reigning champion, will look to take down competitors and retain his spot atop the OWGR leaderboard. He leads Rahm and McIlroy by a slight advantage.
