The 2024 PGA Championship will not have an asterisk. Talor Gooch, the 2023 LIV Golf particular person champion and an outspoken critic of golf’s main championship qualifying course of, has apparently obtained an invitation to play in subsequent week’s PGA Championship.
Gooch introduced on Twitter that he has obtained an invitation to play in the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla:
(Yahoo Sports has reached out to the PGA of America for affirmation of Gooch’s particular exemption.)
Gooch had lengthy criticized the truth that many LIV gamers do not have a presence in the majors due to the formulation used to fill out the fields. The majors depend on the Official World Golf Rankings, which do not acknowledge LIV Golf’s three-round, no-cut format as a reputable tour for factors functions. Gooch went as far as to say that if Rory McIlroy had received the Masters, it ought to have include an asterisk due to the absence of LIV Golf gamers.
Many LIV gamers have already got an exemption into the PGA Championship, most notably defending champion and three-time PGA winner Brooks Koepka. But these with out exemptions, notably these at early factors in their careers, have had solely a slim pathway to the majors — taking part in nicely sufficient on different excursions to advantage the eye of golf’s main gatekeepers. Joaquin Niemann adopted this path and received invites to each the Masters and the PGA. Now, with Gooch’s invitation, at the very least one in every of golf’s main authorities is seemingly recognizing the worth of successful a LIV Golf championship, as nicely.