With the PGA Championship this week, golfers on both the PGA Tour and the LIV Tour will once again play together during a major.
While only a handful of LIV golfers have qualified for the PGA Championship, one well-known member of the tour got a late invite. Dustin Johnson, a two-time major winner who left for the LIV tour in 2022, will play at Quail Hollow this weekend after getting a special invitation for the tournament from the PGA of America.
Johnson last won a major in 2020 at the Masters, which helped him earn an exemption at each of the past five PGA Championships. Those exemptions ran out last year, meaning Johnson needed another way to play in the tournament.
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The PGA Championship has not created special exemption rules for players in the LIV tournament, but the tournament reserves the right to invite players through special exemptions. The tournament is one of two majors to use this process, joining the Masters, while the U.S. Open and the British Open created specific exemption rules for LIV players only.
“That’s what we have done the last three years and continue to do so,” Kerry Haigh, the championships director for the PGA of America, said, via ESPN. “We have that flexibility to be able to invite those players who are deserving from whichever tour.”
This year, 16 LIV players will play in the second major, including Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, and Patrick Reed. Of note, Koepka and Mickelson have combined to win four of the past eight PGA Championships.
MORE: The full list of golfers to secure a career Grand Slam
Dustin Johnson major history
Dustin Johnson is a two-time major winner, winning his first during the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont and his second at the 2020 Masters. He has finished runner-up at a major five different times, including twice at the PGA Championship in 2019 and 2020.
Most recently, however, Johnson has missed the cut in four of the past seven majors, including at the 2025 Masters in April. Additionally, he has only finished in the top 10 at majors twice since joining the LIV tour in 2022.
MORE: The full list of PGA Championship winners
