Six LIV golfers receive PGA Championship invite

The 106th PGA Championship gets under way in nine days’ time and six more LIV golfers have been added to the field.

The PGA of America has today confirmed the full field that will peg it up at Valhalla next week, with two places being withheld for the winners of this week’s Wells Fargo Championship and Myrtle Beach Classic.

Defending champion Brooks Koepka – three times a winner of the Wanamaker Trophy – headlines a field that includes 16 PGA champions and 33 major champions as Valhalla plays host to the second men’s major of the year for the fourth time.

Included in the line-up are six LIV golfers who have received special exemptions to take part.

Talor Gooch let slip yesterday that he is one of the lucky lot.

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The 2023 LIV Golf individual champion shared the news on social media, writing: “Looking forward to Valhalla next week! Thank you for the invitation @PGA. See y’all there.”

Receiving a similar invite are 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, Dean Burmester, Lucas Herbert, Adrian Meronk and David Puig. There is no place, however, for 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen.

Today’s news brings the total number of LIV golfers in the field to 15 and represents quite a change in approach by the PGA of America.

On the eve of last year’s PGA Championship, the organisation’s CEO Seth Waugh was dismissive of LIV’s long-term viability.

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“I don’t think people really care about it,” he said. “And I don’t see how it’s a survivable business model.

“They can fund it for as long as they want to, but no matter how much money you have, at some point, burning it doesn’t feel very good,” he said.

“I don’t see they are accomplishing much. It seems logical to me, then, that you would work towards some sort of agreement. I hope the game comes back together in some form.”

To go from that to giving up six places in the field to LIV golfers this year will, one suspects, be hailed as a huge win for the Saudi-funded league.

The 2024 PGA Championship takes place at Valhall Golf Club in Kentucky from May 16-19.

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor