Tiger Woods officially out of PGA Championship. The surprise was an invitation for Dustin Johnson
Tiger Woods is officially out of the PGA Championship. Ditto for Phil Mickelson, who has played only one LIV Golf event this year as he copes with a family health matter and withdrew shortly after the list of 154 players was announced Tuesday for Aronimink Golf Club. And the big surprise was Dustin Johnson, who was extended one of the special invitations to the PGA Championship next week despite his eligibility running out last year.
“Very excited,” Johnson said from LIV Golf Virginia, “I want to play in all the majors. I feel like my game is still good enough to compete with everyone and still can win. The PGA was nice enough to give me an invitation.
So yeah, I'm very, very happy and thankful for that. ” The PGA of America held back two spots in case the winners of two PGA Tour events, the Truist Championship and the Myrtle Beach Classic, are not already eligible . Scottie Scheffler is the defending champion at the second major of the year, which returns to Aronimink for the first time since Gary Player won in 1972.
Johnson is among 30 players who competed at Aronimink when it hosted the BMW Championship in 2018, when Keegan Bradley defeated Justin Rose in a playoff that didn't finish until Monday because of so much rain. The PGA Championship committee is the least transparent in filling the field for its major, with 33 players receiving special invitations. Most of them came from the top 100 in the world ranking.
The PGA Championship strives to have the top 100 and often will go a few places outside the top 100 to make sure no one sneaks in in the final week before the major. It gave invitations to Andy Sullivan of England (102), Angel Ayora of Spain (103), Keith Mitchell (104), Chandler Blanchet (106) and Billy Horschel (107). It also has a category of its PGA points list — based on official PGA Tour money earned in the last 12 months — to fill the field beyond the top 70.