Max Kennedy has only one intention: to clinch one of three available LIV Golf cards after he eased into day two of the Promotions event at Black Diamond Ranch in Florida.
The top-3 after 72 holes on Sunday will secure wildcard status for the new season, which begins in Riyadh next month, and Kennedy carded a four-under 66 to share second place with the top-20 and ties advancing to today’s second round, where the scores will be reset before another 18-hole shootout.
Kennedy, making his first competitive appearance in almost two months admits he barely missed a shot as he recovered from an early bogey on the third with birdies on the 6th, 9th, 13th, 15th and 16th to get into the groove
“Yeah, played nicely. I haven’t played a tournament in quite a while, so didn’t really know what to expect,” said the Royal Dublin man looking to make it third time lucky at the qualifying event for the Saudi backed tour.
“But I kept it tidy out there. Very few mistakes, very few bad shots. I was happy with my round. I played great. Didn’t miss a golf shot all day, so I was very happy.”
Should Kennedy miss out on one of the three available LIV cards there is a consolation of the top-10 clinching International Series exemptions – the elevated events on the Asian Tour – but he has no intention of settling for anything less than playing alongside Bryson DeChambeau, Tom McKibbin and Jon Rahm next month.
“I played an Asian Tour event at the start of December. That was my last event. I loved it. I thought the event setup was amazing. The course was really good.
“I’d love the opportunity to play out there. But the reason we come here is to play on LIV, not just the International Series.
“The plan is to get the LIV Tour card. Yeah, it would be fantastic. Yeah, that’s what I came here to do, so that’s the plan.”
The 24-year-old missed out on the 36-hole shootout two years ago but he feels he has grown as a player.
Kennedy had a very encouraging season on the HotelPlanner Tour in 2025, being beaten in a playoff and narrowly missing out on the Grand Final in his rookie professional campaign.
“I’ve made a lot of progress since 2023. I was an amateur back then, still in college. So I finished college in 2024 and moved on to the pro scene in Europe, playing in the HotelPlanner Tour and the DP World Tour, and I had a really good first year. I was happy with my performances. Always stuff to work on, but going forward, I’m quite happy where I’m at right now.
“I’m definitely a lot more comfortable. Back then, it was kind of new to me, so I was a little bit more nervous, didn’t know what to expect.
“Going out there tomorrow, I’ll know how to feel. I know what I’m going to feel. There’s going to be nerves and stuff like that, but that’s kind of what you prepare for. I’m looking forward to it.”
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