Dustin Johnson will be part of the 2026 PGA Championship field to continue his streak of having qualified for 69 successive Majors.
Of course he has missed a few in that time – the 2012 Masters when he was injured after a jet-skiing accident, the 2014 PGA when he took time off for ‘personal challenges’ and the 2017 Masters when he was again injured after a fall on the eve of the tournament – but he will be teeing it up at Aronimink on May 21.
“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.”
Johnson’s exemptions for the PGA and Open have now expired while his US Open one from his 2016 victory at Oakmont will end this year. For Augusta he can return as long as he fancies thanks to his win there in 2020.
The American has two second places in the PGA and in 2010 he came to the 72nd hole at Whistling Straits with a one-shot lead but then ground his club and wrote down a treble-bogey seven on his card.
That year Martin Kaymer would triumph and he is another LIV golfer to take his place in the field though Phil fellow PGA champ Phil Mickelson, the oldest Major winner at 50, will miss out due to his ongoing family matters.
Fellow Major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith will also fly the LIV flag – how long we might be saying this is anyone’s guess – and Tyrrell Hatton will be a huge fancy and he qualifies through his Ryder Cup efforts last year.
Joaquin Niemann will be another to travel to Philadelphia and he takes his spot courtesy of finishing inside the top 15 at last year’s PGA Championship. That eighth place remains the Chilean’s sole top-10 finish in a Major.
There are a host of other invites and Elvis Smylie, David Puig, Thomas Detry and Tom McKibbin are among those to get the nod which takes the LIV entries to 11.
For McKibbin it will be just his sixth Major start having missed the cut at his debut Masters in April.
“I played last year as well, and I think to sort of do it two years in a row with not having the availability of many world ranking points and to stay around that 100 number has been pretty good. It’s always nice to get to play another Major. They’re definitely the events that you want to be playing, and every time you can tick one off, it’s a great learning experience. I always sort of leave learning more and more about my game and what I need to get better for the future.”
Brooks Koepka and DeChambeau are the only active LIV players to have won one of the big four and, if ever the breakaway tour, needed something special from those still on their books it will be at Aronimink in a couple of weeks.
LIV players at 2026 PGA Championship (11)
Bryson DeChambeau
Thomas Detry
Tyrrell Hatton
Dustin Johnson
Martin Kaymer
Tom McKibbin
Joaquin Niemann
David Puig
Jon Rahm
Cam Smith
Elvis Smylie