Bjerregaard eyes one of LIV Golf's golden tickets

At Black Diamond Ranch in Florida, 78 golfers from 24 countries are set to compete in the LIV Golf Promotions 2026: a grueling four-round event that will reward the three top performers with a golden ticket onto the LIV Golf roster.

One of the most intriguing entrants is Lucas Bjerregaard, a 34-year-old Dane who was once a rising star in golf. Now, after five challenging years on the periphery, he's eyeing one of the three newly available LIV Golf spots. For Bjerregaard, this isn't just a qualifier, but a shot at career revival.

“I haven't played competitively for about a month and a half, so I don't really know,” Bjerregaard says of his current form. “I've been working hard these last couple of weeks so hopefully my game is where I need it to be.”

Bjerregaard's journey to this moment is a tale of highs that hinted at superstardom, followed by humbling lows. Bursting onto the scene as an amateur, he claimed back-to-back Danish Amateur titles in 2007 and 2008, won the European Amateur in 2010, and helped Denmark to a runner-up finish at the 2010 Eisenhower Trophy. Deciding to forego his commitment to play college golf at Florida State University, he grinded through the Nordic Golf League and Challenge Tour before breaking through on the DP World Tour with a victory at the 2017 Portugal Masters.

Bjerregaard experienced immediate success as a professional during the 2018-2019 season, beginning with an incredibly impressive win at the 2018 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship on St Andrews' Old Course, beating Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton by one stroke after a final-round 65. That season, he notched 10 top-10 finishes and reached a career-high world ranking of No. 42, earning major championship starts in the process. The Dane impressed in the majors, finishing T21 at the Masters and T16 at both the PGA Championship and The Open Championship.

Perhaps Bjerregaard’s most memorable moment came at the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, where the then rising star upset none other than Tiger Woods 1-up in the quarterfinals.

“It was amazing. One of the highlights of my career for sure,” Bjerregaard recalls. “To even play against him was just a dream come true. Growing up, he was my idol. I mean, a lot of us really looked up to him for what he was able to do on the golf course. So, to then meet him and play against him was unbelievable... We just had an incredible match, and I was very fortunate to come out on top. Definitely something I look back on very fondly.”

Looking back on that breakout period, Bjerregaard reflects: “Back in 2018 we had our daughter and something there just clicked. It took my mind off the golf a little bit, and then for some reason I started playing better for it. I had a really good team and set up, I was just confident, started playing better, and then confidence just took over. Had a good run there for a couple years.”

After his impressive run, Bjerregaard fell out of form and lost confidence, with injuries compounding his struggles. He had a back issue in early 2024, and the poor form and health issues took a toll on his desire to continue playing professional golf.

“These last few years have definitely been tough on myself and the family,” he admits. “My relationship with the game is probably a little bit different now than it used to be.”

He entered the LIV Promotions event two years ago in Abu Dhabi but fell short. This time around, the appeal was too strong to ignore.

“I've played the promotions event there and it was a great setup, great event,” he says. “When I saw it come up again this year I thought, why not? It's a great opportunity, and it would be amazing to make it onto LIV, that's for sure.”

That appeal runs deeper than just another chance to compete.

“I think LIV offers a very different and unique relationship to golf and something a bit fresh and different,” Bjerregaard explains. “These last three or four years, not having played very well and struggled, it's been a lot of travel and it's been a lot of feeling alone in hotel rooms and stuff, and LIV seems to be the opposite of that. So that seems very appealing to me.”

The format of LIV Golf Promotions event, where scores reset and players must go low every day to advance, also plays to his strengths.

“I think it's a great way of doing a qualifier like this,” he says. “I quite like that you have to be on every day... It definitely suits my game. That's kind of how I've played these last few years. it's been very much either I'm on or it's been pretty poor. So hopefully I can have a few good days here.”

Among former Ryder Cup players and proven tour winners in a competitive field, Bjerregaard's pedigree makes him a compelling dark horse. Can that magic return to secure one of LIV Golf's golden tickets? Golf thrives on comeback stories. This week, Bjerregaard will aim to author one of his own.