How LIV Golf crisis impacted Asian Tour and Australian pathways

A pair of promising young talents, Nathan Barbieri and James Conran are among the favourites at this week’s WA PGA Championship.

And with good reason — Conran is already a local Tour winner, while Barbieri has been one of the most consistent contenders in recent years.

Watch the WA PGA Championship, 10-11 October, LIVE on Fox Sports, available on Kayo.

Nonetheless, as the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia season resumed in earnest on Thursday, the pair arrived with an air of personal disappointment.

The duo sits among a large cohort of Aussie golfers who are suddenly unable to achieve a year-long goal as a consequence of the far-reaching ripple effect from LIV Golf’s financial crisis.

Saudi Arabia’s withdrawal of funding for the breakaway tour continues to filter through the global golf landscape, with the sovereign nation previously propping up the Asian Tour’s lucrative International Series.

A major implication of that decision has been the cancellation of the circuit’s qualifying school.

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“The difficult decision was taken due to the second half of the 2026 Asian Tour schedule being materially impacted by the cessation of The International Series,” a statement from the Asian Tour read in part.

“This has limited playing opportunities for our membership, notably for graduates from the Qualifying School and last year’s Asian Development Tour (ADT).

“It is a determination not taken lightly given the Qualifying School is such a critical part of our player pathways and the Tour apologises for any inconvenience caused.

“2027 will be a rebuilding year for the Asian Tour where we will focus on the stability and growth of both the Asian Tour and ADT schedules.”

Seeking opportunities overseas, Australian golfers like Barbieri and Conran had regularly targeted the nearby Asian Tour, but have now seen their chance to earn playing rights in the continent scuppered for at least 12 months.

Akin to a performance-based job interview for professional golfers, Q Schools offer a number of cards for the next season. Hundreds of golfers part ways with thousands of dollars to go to Q School to compete for a job.

The Asian Tour’s version was set to start this month before the plug was pulled.

Cancelling the event — where Barbieri and Conran, along with WA PGA round one leader Ben Eccles, Jake McLeod and others, were set to expand their professional horizons — was no small decision, as Q Schools are important for refreshing talent and can prove financially beneficial.

BACK TO FUTURE FOR ASIA

Part of the Asian Tour’s rebuilding will focus on realigning with the DP World Tour, as well as the PGA Tour, which will bring it into the global network that already includes the PGA Tour of Australasia.

The Aussie Tour offers one card on the DP World Tour for its season-long Order of Merit winner, while second and third earn playing rights on the secondary HotelPlanner Tour.

Additional pathways come via global Q Schools, select tournaments — including last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship — and more are available via the points list.

The local circuit now offers more tournaments, better prizemoney and pathways, with the Asian Tour’s re-entry into the DP World and PGA Tours nexus seen as a positive development.

“The PGA Tour of Australasia has a longstanding relationship with the Asian Tour,” the PGA of Australia’s Tour Development Manager, and former Asian Tour player Kim Felton told foxsports.com.au.

“The New Zealand Open is currently co-sanctioned with the Asian Tour and is one of the marquee events on our calendar and we would welcome any opportunity to continue to work with the Asian Tour.

“There is a long history of collaboration between the Asian Tour and the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia and we look forward to growing that in years to come.”

‘WHOLE HEAP OF MONEY DOWN THE GURGLER’

Those who had committed their winter practice, and not insignificant money, to the Asian Tour now have no choice but to focus their attention exclusively at home, with other global Q Schools already closed to entries.

“Definitely disappointment more than anything for me,” said Conran, who tees it up in Kalgoorlie as a last start winner in the Queanbeyan Ford NSW Open Regional Qualifier last week.

“I’d planned my end of year, the season around going to Asian Q school after the Aussie Open, which it’s difficult timing already, having to leave a couple events behind, especially if you want to go over to Asia or Japan (Japan Golf Tour), because Japan runs over, our main tournaments.

“Asia was definitely the goal for the end of this year, but it’s definitely just disappointing that it’s not on. It’s hard.”

Already contesting Asian Q School twice, Conran describes the experience of playing and missing status as “just a whole heap of money down the gurgler if you don’t play well that week”.

Noting he is far from the only player now without a way to better the golfing hand he has been dealt, Conran’s words were echoed by his close friend Barbieri, who has long been considered a top prospect if he can make his way beyond the burgeoning Australasian circuit.

The New South Welshman finished eighth on the 2025/2026 season Order of Merit courtesy of eight top-10 finishes, and he added his 25th finish of 10th or better at this season’s opening PNG Open in August.

“A bit disappointed … That was definitely a path I was looking to go up,” Barbieri said of the Asian Tour cancellation.

“I think they’ll be back up and running next year, hopefully maybe merge then with Europe or something, so it’s probably just a bit of a wait, but we’ll eventually be back up going again.

“I’m not too fussed on where I play, but I think a lot of people want to aim towards Asia at the moment because there was a lot of pathways through it with LIV and all that … it’s a bit disappointing, but it’ll be right.”

Pathways is common terminology these days in golf, with the PGA Tour of Australasia largely promoting its funnel up system to the DP World and HotelPlanner Tours, which in turn offer promotion to the game’s biggest stage, the PGA Tour.

The benefit of playing overseas, and using qualifying schools to achieve that goal, is clearly the way forward for the likes of Barbieri and Conran, according to a player who has seen and experienced it all before.

“I think the issue is, there’s so many good players, and it’s hard to get a spot anywhere, so the more Tour schools you can go to, the better,” Marcus Fraser, a seven-time Tour winner around the world and Olympian, said.

“You’ve got to get somewhere to play and then try and create your best schedule wherever, whatever that might look like, whether it’s pro-ams, whether it’s Australian Tour, whether it’s Asian Tour, DP World, mini tours, pay for play.

“Hopefully one day PGA Tour for a lot of the guys, but you’re just trying to create the best schedule you possibly can, so that you’ve got to try and get an opportunity or a playing opportunity somewhere.

“So, it means going to any tour school there is, and they’re all a pathway to some of the big tours.”

As the PGA Tour, the ultimate planned landing spot for most of the Australasian Tour membership, adjusts its tournament structure and access, with a direct card via its Q School no longer a simple route, those pathways are minute.

Nonetheless, professional golfers are backing themselves to grab remote chances and succeed like countless players have done before them.

Three-time Asian Tour winner Fraser is slightly miffed at a percentage of the next generation’s approach to moving forward.

“That’s probably my only gripe with a lot of the younger guys now, they don’t seem to play enough, like years ago, it was like, ‘OK, play, just keep playing, playing, playing’,” Fraser said.

“You get better at golf by playing golf. So, instead of sometimes practising. I think throw yourself in the deep end, practice and play with better players, and they’ll drag you along and get you overseas and keep going.

“I was really lucky. I had guys like Peter O’Malley when I first got to Europe and he was a huge sounding board for me and Wade Ormsby and guys like Rummy (Brett Rumford), guys like that.

“We were really lucky we had Richard Green, Nick O’Hern, Peter Fowler, guys like that, that were just great to talk to, and we’d learn a lot often, we tried to emulate.

‘Fraser is more than happy to fill that role for the likes of Barbieri, while Conran owns a genetic advantage.

The son of successful touring professional Steve, whose extended career in Asia and particularly on the lucrative Japan Golf Tour has provided a blueprint, James Conran’s aspirations are slightly different to others and show the varied roads to success in professional golf.

“Every goal just goes to the Aussie tour now,” Conran said.

“Obviously, you’d want to play good in the Aussie Open, Aussie PGA and New Zealand Open, but the rest of the Tour still means a lot if you can get those top three spots for Europe, which isn’t a goal of mine.”

“It’s not where I want to finish up. I’d like to sort of play out of Australia. That’s just why Asia was a good pick for me, but obviously getting a European Tour (DP World Tour) card, you’re going to grab it with both hands and go for it, so that’s the main goal now.”

Barbieri’s main goal is to win for the first time, and despite the change in plans, keep chasing his dream that happens to involve playing the game he loves for a living, even if his best years feel like they are moving fast.

“I just like playing the golf. I love travelling with my mates and the years go real quick when you start playing, they just don’t stop,” Barbieri said.

“I just love it. It’s really fun.”

WATCH THE FINAL TWO ROUNDS OF THE CKB WA PGA CHAMPIONSHIP LIVE ON FOX SPORTS AND KAYO SPORTS – from 4pm-7pm AEDT Saturday and 2pm-7pm AEDT Sunday.