'I Am An Independent Contractor, So I'm Always Looking For Opportunities To Play' - Jason Dufner Explains LIV Qualifier Entry

Jason Dufner was a surprise entry into this week's LIV Golf Promotions field, where three players will earn spots for the 2024 LIV Golf League.

The 2013 PGA Champion has plied his trade on the PGA Tour for the past 18 years, where he has won five times, but says now is the time to look for a "new experience." 

His category on the US-based circuit will see him gain fewer starts due to his past champion status after finishing 172nd in the FedEx Cup standings this year.

The 46-year-old is one of the biggest names in the field this week - and the only Major champion teeing it up - having reached a career-high of 6th in the world and featuring in the 2012 Ryder Cup.

"Right, I think for me it would be a new experience, obviously," Dufner said at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, venue for this week's three-day, four-round event.

"It's a little bit different from what I've participated in for the last 23 years or so. I've played 18 years on the PGA Tour. Very grateful for all those opportunities, and I'm very proud of the things that I accomplished on this tour.

"I think at this point, maybe something new, maybe something different might refresh me a little bit, and this is an opportunity this week to be part of that golf tour, so that's exciting to me, and I'm looking forward to the week of qualifying and seeing where I stack up.

"A lot of my thought process comes back to the fact of the category that I would be playing out of next year on the PGA Tour. I'd be in the past champions category. I think that's going to be very limited starts with the way things have changed on the PGA Tour, and I just looked at it like maybe I could come over here and play this tour. Maybe that would be an opportunity for me.

"I am an independent contractor, so I'm always looking for opportunities to play. I think my starts next year on the PGA Tour would be quite limited, and if I could come over here and have a good week, that would open up some doors for something new and different for me to be part of LIV Golf."

The 2024 LIV Golf League schedule will see the returns of the popular Adelaide event as well as Singapore, Valderrama, the UK, Saudi Arabia and a new tournament in Hong Kong. Dufner says he'd be excited to travel a bit more if he were to make it through.

"When I was in my prime for that decade or so, I played a lot around the world, and I enjoyed it," he said. 

"I enjoyed going to different places. I enjoyed bringing the game of golf to places. I think in the States we're spoiled because every week is almost a new event in a different location that is in the United States. But people in Hong Kong or in Australia or in Abu Dhabi don't get to see the best players in the world on a week-to-week basis, so I always thought it was important when I was one of the best players in the world to kind of go and play globally, so I think that is very interesting to me that this tour kind of plays that global schedule and hits all these different spots, trying to bring the game of golf."

If Dufner were to make it through, he'd be drafted to one of the league's teams that currently has an open spot. He is undecided on how he'd feel about the team aspect just yet.

"I don't know how I would feel about the team aspect," he said. "I've been so removed from that for so long. Obviously I played college golf. I've been part of a Ryder Cup and a Presidents Cup. Those have unique aspects to it that are completely different than playing as an individual.

"So that would be a new experience for me to be part of a team, to be part of trying to accomplish something as four players together. I don't know how I would feel about that until I was part of that."

Dufner has a bye into round two, where the top 20 players will make it through to the final day. The scores will reset for a 36-hole shootout on Sunday, with the top three earning LIV cards as well as prize money of $200,000, $150,000 and $100,000 respectively. 

Players finishing 4th-10th will earn starts in every International Series event on the Asian Tour next year.