Two-time major winner and LIV Golf star Dustin Johnson has been extended a special invitation into next weekend’s PGA Championship.
Johnson looked set to miss the tournament after his five-year exemption for winning the 2020 Masters expired at the end of last year. His other major triumph was at the 2016 US Open.
Johnson hasn’t had a top-10 finish at a major since the 2023 US Open, and has missed the cut at six of the 10 majors since.
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Johnson was one of the first big-name players to defect to the LIV tour in 2022. He has had just one top-10 finish from the six LIV events this year.
Dustin Johnson has been given a special invitation into the PGA Championship. Getty
Despite his downturn in form, Johnson said he was “very excited” to play in the tournament, to be held at the Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania.
“I want to play in all the majors,” he said ahead of this weekend’s LIV event in Virginia.
“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 is a former world No.1 who has been eligible for every major since 2009, and has missed only three in that time. His presence at the biggest tournaments is about to dwindle given his 10-year US Open exemption will expire at the end of this year, and he is not currently eligible for the British Open.
The PGA Championship committee is the least transparent in filling the field for its major, with 33 players receiving special invitations. Aussie Elvis Smylie, who also plays on the LIV tour with Johnson, was another recipient.
Tiger Woods will also miss the tournament, as will Phil Mickelson.
Aussie LIV star Elvis Smylie has also received a special invitation into the tournament. Getty
Woods not playing was expected – he was arrested in late February on suspicion of DUI, and later received permission from a Florida court to leave the USA for treatment. He hasn’t played a major since 2024.
There are five Aussies in the field – Smylie, Jason Day, Cameron Smith, Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott.
Full 2026 PGA Championship field
Australians in italicised bold
PGA Championship winners (Lifetime exemption)
Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Jimmy Walker, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer, Y.E. Yang, Padraig Harrington, Shaun Micheel.
Masters champions (five years)
Jon Rahm.
US Open champions (five years)
JJ Spaun, Bryson DeChambeau, Wyndham Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick.
British Open champions (five years)
Brian Harman, Cameron Smith.
Players Championship winners (three years)
Cameron Young.
Top three from Federation Ranking of the OWGR on April 27
Casey Jarvis, Travis Smyth, Kazuki Higa.
Senior PGA champion
Stewart Cink.
Top 15 and ties from the 2025 PGA Championship
Harris English, Davis Riley, Taylor Pendrith, JT Poston, Jhonattan Vegas, Ryan Gerard, Ben Griffin, Joe Highsmith, Si Woo Kim, Denny McCarthy, Joaquin Niemann.
Top 20 from the PGA Professional Championship
Jesse Droemer, Ben Kern, Michael Kartrude, Tyler Collet, Zach Haynes, Garrett Sapp, Austin Hurt, Braden Shattuck, Mark Geddes, Ben Polland, Michael Block, Bryce Fisher, Ryan Lenahan, Jared Jones, Francisco Bide, Chris Gabriele, Derek Berg, Ryan Vermeer, Paul McClure, Timothy Wiseman.
US and European players from the 2025 Ryder Cup
Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Russell Henley, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Hojgaard, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre, Justin Rose, Sepp Straka.
PGA Tour winners dating to the 2025 Charles Schwab Challenge
Ryan Fox, Aldrich Potgieter, Brian Campbell, Chris Gotterup, William Mouw, Kurt Kitayama, Steven Fisk, Michael Brennan, Adam Schenk, Sami Valimaki, Jacob Bridgeman, Nico Echavarria, Akshay Bhatia, Ricky Castillo, Gary Woodland, Alex Fitzpatrick.
Top 70 from the PGA Championship points list (official PGA Tour money 11/5/2025-3/5/2026)
Maverick McNealy, Rickie Fowler, Corey Conners, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee, Harry Hall, Jake Knapp, Nick Taylor, Adam Scott, Daniel Berger, Sam Stevens, Matt McCarty, Nicolai Hojgaard, Jordan Spieth, Andrew Novak, Ryo Hisatsune, Max Greyserman, Alex Noren, Michael Thorbjornsen, Pierceson Coody, Alex Smalley, Bud Cauley, Patrick Rodgers, Chris Kirk, Michael Kim, Sahith Theegala, Matti Schmid, Matt Wallace, Andrew Putnam, Emiliano Grillo, David Lipsky, Rico Hoey.
Top three from the 2026 European tour Asian Swing
Mikael Lindberg, Bernd Wiesberger, Jordan Gumberg.
Special invitations
Luke Donald, Patrick Reed, Marco Penge, Aaron Rai, Kristoffer Reitan, David Puig, Thomas Detry, Jayden Schaper, Jordan Smith, Johnny Keefer, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Sungjae Im, Max McGreevy, Haotong Li, Garrick Higgo, John Parry, Austin Smotherman, Elvis Smylie, Lucas Glover, Daniel Hillier, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Daniel Brown, Stefan Jaeger, Adrien Saddier, Tom McKibbin, Dustin Johnson, Andy Sullivan, Angel Ayora, Keith Mitchell, Chandler Blanchet, Billy Horschel, Ian Holt, Kota Kaneko, Max Homa.
Alternates
Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Tom Hoge, Kevin Yu, Mac Meissner, Tony Finau, Kevin Roy, Davis Thompson.
– with AP
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