Johnson gets special PGA Championship invite

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — LIV Golf’s former No. 1 Dustin Johnson has been handed a special invite to next week’s PGA Championship after losing his exemption to the field, it was confirmed on Tuesday.

Johnson had previously been eligible to play in the PGA Championship due to his victory in the Masters in 2020 under rules that give a place in the tournament to the last five winners of the Masters.

However, that exemption expired following Rory McIlroy’s victory last month at Augusta, where the 40-year-old Johnson missed the cut.

Two-time major champion Johnson, whose world ranking has plummeted to 751 since joining LIV, is one of several players from the Saudi Arabia-financed circuit included in the field for the PGA Championship released on Tuesday.

Other LIV players lining up for the tournament at Quail Hollow in North Carolina include Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau.

The PGA Championship, the second major of the season, takes place from 15 to 18 May.