LIV golfer makes major demand ahead of PGA Championship

A total of 15 LIV golfers will tee it up at Quail Hollow this week for the PGA Championship.

That’s the exact same number as last year’s edition at Valhalla, with Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm all set to take their chance.

Meanwhile, two-time major winner and 2010 PGA Champion Martin Kaymer will also return for another go at the second major of the year.

It will be his 15th bid for the Wanamaker trophy, having secured a lifetime exemption thanks to his play-off win over now LIV rival Bubba Watson at Whistling Straits.

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But, according to the German, more of his contemporaries on the Saudi-backed circuit deserve to be in action. In fact, he claims that should be the case at each of the four men’s majors.

“Everybody should come together,” Kaymer told Josh Lees of the Mirror.

“The guys who got the invites definitely deserve them, and there should be more opportunities for LIV players to participate in majors.”

Currently, LIV Golf only has a direct pathway into the US Open and The Open, while both are extremely narrow.

The USGA was first to announce the new exemption category in February before the R&A followed suit with a new category of their own.

For the 2025 US Open to be held at Oakmont Country Club, a full exemption was awarded to Joaquin Niemann, as he topped the league’s individual standings as of May 19.

Meanwhile, the leading player in the top five of the standings following LIV Golf Dallas will earn a place at Royal Portrush, in July.

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However, Kaymer is adamant that more must be done to include the best players in the world at the game’s biggest events.

“We are talking about major championships,” he added, “the best players in the world, and with LIV Golf, there are some of the best players in the world.

“If there were an easier and better pathway for us to qualify, then that would be amazing.”

Of the six LIV players who received a special invite to the PGA Championship, Lucas Herbert was not one of them.

The Aussie could arguably count himself the unlucky loser, particularly after lifting the International Series Japan title over the weekend.

He told X account Flushing It last week of his desire for Augusta National to create an opening for more LIV golfers to play in The Masters.

“When we came to LIV, we knew that the majors were going to be the sticking point and it was going to be the hard thing to deal with,” Herbert said.

“But it has been difficult to watch Augusta the last two years and know that I was never going to get there with the way everything is set up at the moment, there’s no clear pathway to get to Augusta.”

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.