2 LIV phenomenon won surprise PGA championship invitation

The 2025 PGA champion is a week away from the hotel, and players report on hosting the course Quail Hollow within a few days. Now, two other LIV golf stars Tom McKibbin and David Puig will join the game at their best after receiving a last-minute invitation to join the PGA.

PGA Champion: The Strongest Area of ​​Golf?

The PGA Championship is the second men’s major in the year. While it may not have Masters dishes, it is usually the strongest area in a golf course.

Typically, most of the top 100 players in the official world golf rankings are invited, even if they don’t have other qualifying. In comparison, there are not 100 players in the entire Masters field.

But in recent years, this policy has had a big problem: Liv Golf. As of now, the LIV Golf Championship has not awarded a world ranking point. Therefore, the only chance for LIV players in the rankings is to compete in the Grand Slam and selected Asian Tour and DP World Tour events, while Asian Tour and DP World Tour events have fewer points than PGA Tour.

Players such as Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, who have won the pros since joining LIV, have been able to automatically get the four biggest golf games in the global rankings or perform in the pros.

Others, such as Joaquin Niemann, have not achieved much success in the world rankings. Niemann, for example, won three LIV events in seven games this year. But he still had to rely on a special invitation to play the Masters. He also received an invitation from PGA next week.

McKibbin, Puig competes in PGA Championship

McGibbin and Puig are somewhat different.

But Niemann won him an automatic waiver in the 2025 Torrid game, thanks to the new qualification standard introduced this season, which provides players with open positions in the top three of LIV’s personal positions as of May 19 through May 19.

McKibbin is a 22-year-old phenomenon in Northern Ireland. He finished 18th in the 2024 season tournament at DP World Tour, earning the 2025 PGA Tour card. But despite Rory McIlroy’s warning, McKibbin chose to pass his card and instead supported joining Liv Golf.

McKibbin joined Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII team. Although he is in the top 100 early this season, he currently ranks 115 in the official world golf rankings.

But given his outstanding performance on LIV in 2025 and last year’s DP World Tour, the PGA Championship organizers offered him an invitation this week, and Tuesday morning, it was an official of the press.