LIV Golf hopeful makes PGA Tour comeback despite punishment fears
Martin Trainer has qualified to compete at this week's Sony Open on the PGA Tour just one month after entering LIV Golf Promotions.
Tranier entered this week's Qualifying School to earn a spot at the event in Hawaii, and succeeded, after coming out on top by shooting six-under-par in a weather-delayed qualifier. The 32-year-old took one of four spots, another taken by Parker Coody, who also shot six-under.
The final two places were decided in dramatic fashion, as seven players found themselves tied a shot further back on five-under, forcing a seven-for-two playoff following the rain delay.
READ MORE: LIV Golf 'leaks' newest signing before quickly deleting social media post
The two who prevailed were Norman Xiong and Robert Streb, completing the Sony Open field ahead of Thursday's opening round. One name who caught the attention on the back of qualifying though was Trainer, who was bidding to join LIV Golf just one month ago.
Bubba Watson shares details of horror knee injury ahead of LIV Golf debut
The 2019 Puerto Rico Open champion entered the promotion event in the hope of securing a one-year spot on the LIV circuit. And Trainer came close too, after making it through to the final day of the event, before falling three shots short, finishing the week in a tie for seventh.
LIV's Q-School event proved to be somewhat of a grey area for PGA Tour members, amid the ongoing dispute between the two rival tours. Since LIV's inception in the summer of 2022, the Tour have opted to ban each player that has opted to join the Saudi-backed league.
Click to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sport and entertainment stories.
Martin Trainer entered LIV Golf Promotions last month (Jason Butler/Getty Images)For LIV Promotions though it appeared the circuit had softened its stance, initially granting the green light for players to compete due to it not being an ‘unauthorised tournament', the category LIV events are usually placed in. Soon after though, numerous reports suggested players could well be sanctioned for competing in the Q-School event.
At the time, Trainer himself expressed his concern over being punished by the Tour financially, but appeared confident of avoiding a ban. "We’ll see what happens,” he told Golfweek in December. “They might fine me."
Trainer admitted he turned to the LIV event after losing his PGA Tour card at the end of 2023. "It was a strange situation because I was trying to keep my card and then I didn’t and weighing options, and so that’s how I got stuck in that pickle.
'I don’t think it will be a suspension, probably a fine.” It appears Trainer has escaped unscathed though ahead of his return to the PGA Tour later this week, and will kick off his tournament alongside Carl Yuan and Josh Teater in Thursday's opening round.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
