PGA Championship sets the field for the second major of the year, Johnson gets a special invitation

The PGA Championship released its field Tuesday for next week at Quail Hollow, leaning heavily on the top 100 in the world ranking and giving full consideration to players from the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League.

The PGA Championship tries to get the top 100 in the world ranking, which won’t be the case because No. 24 Billy Horschel announced on social media he will have hip surgery next week.

The PGA Championship is May 15-18 at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina. Xander Schauffele is the defending champion and Justin Thomas is the last PGA Championship winner at Quail Hollow in 2017.

LIV Golf will have 16 players in the 156-man field, the same number as last year. That includes John Catlin, a reserve who has played three LIV tournaments this year. He qualified through his Asian Tour performance.

Dustin Johnson required a special invitation because the PGA takes the last five winners of the Masters, instead of a Masters champion getting a five-year exemption. Johnson won the Masters in November 2020 during rescheduling from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the LIV players getting a spot was Tom McKibbin of Northern Ireland, who joined the rival league this year. He is No. 115 in the world ranking. His lone victory was the European Open in Germany in 2023, and he spent only two weeks in the top 100 before joining LIV.

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Also getting special invitations were Joaquin Niemann, a three-time winner on LIV this year, and Sergio Garcia. They were notified months ago. Patrick Reed sewed up his spot with his third-place finish in the Masters.

The PGA Championship does not have a specific category for the top 100 in the world ranking. It’s more an unwritten tradition to fit them under “special invitations.”

Unlike the U.S. Open and British Open, the PGA chose not to create a category for LIV. That’s similar to the Masters, which can invite players through its special exemptions.

“That’s what we have done the last three years and continue to do so,” said Kerry Haigh, the championships director for the PGA of America. “We have that flexibility to be able to invite those players who are deserving from whichever tour.”

The PGA of America takes the top 70 from PGA points — a PGA Tour money list from the last 12 months — and then goes beyond that to fill the field. In this case, it did not go beyond the top 70, leaning more on the world ranking.

The world ranking formula was changed in 2023 and is more heavily weighted toward PGA Tour events because of stronger fields.

Patrick Fishburn was bumped out of the top 70 in PGA points the final week to No. 71. He also is No. 110 in the world. Fishburn winds up getting in with the Horschel withdrawal.

Rico Hoey is the first alternate and likely to get in. The PGA is reserving two spots for winners of the Truist Championship and the Myrtle Beach Classic this week on the PGA Tour if they are not already eligible. In the Truist Championship, a signature event in Philadelphia, Michael Thorbjornsen is the only player not yet eligible for Quail Hollow.

The PGA Championship also offered an exemption to Rickie Fowler, who has plunged to No. 125 in the world. There is a category for players in the most recent Ryder Cup — Fowler was at Marco Simone in Italy — provided they are among the top 100 in the world.

Fowler’s first PGA Tour victory was at Quail Hollow in 2012.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf