Tag: 2024 PGA Championship

LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann given special invitation to 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla

Niemann is now in three of the four major championships in 2024, and he plans to qualify for the fourth.

LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann has teed it up across the world over the last year in an attempt to earn enough Official World Golf Ranking points to qualify for the 2024 major championships.

He earned a spot in the Open Championship via the Open Qualifying Series thanks to his win at the ISPS Handa Australian Open back in December. Two weeks ago he received a special invitation to the Masters, and now the PGA of America has followed suit.

Golfweek has confirmed the 25-year-old has received a special invitation to the 2024 PGA Championship, May 16-19, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.

Niemann broke the news in a Monday interview with GolfWRX and also confirmed that he would try to qualify for the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, June 13-16. That said, he might not need to qualify. The Chilean has been one of, if not the, hottest players in the world over the last five months and could earn enough OWGR points with high finishes in the Masters and PGA Championship. He could also pick up points in Asian Tour events around the LIV Golf schedule.

The USGA invites players inside the top 60 in the OWGR as of the tournament date and also two weeks before. Niemann is currently No. 76 in the OWGR.

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2024 men’s major championship venues including Augusta National, Royal Troon

Here’s where the best players in the world will be heading for the 2024 majors.

The year 2023 was an interesting one for the men’s golf majors with two of the four won by golfers claiming their first major championships.

At the Masters, Jon Rahm outdueled Brooks Koepka at Augusta National for his second major win and first green jacket.

Then, Koepka got his revenge and took home the trophy at Oak Hill for his third Wanamaker trophy and fifth major.

A month later, Wyndham Clark earned his first major after he outlasted Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler at Los Angles Country Club to win the U.S. Open.

And, finally, Brian Harman dominated Royal Liverpool for his first major title and earned himself the title of Champion Golfer of the Year.

As we move on from 2023, here’s a look at all four venues that will host men’s major championships in 2024.

PGA Championship darling Michael Block ties course record at Valhalla Golf Club

The 47-year-old club pro who forever became part of PGA Championship lore found lightning in a bottle once again.

After becoming the biggest story of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, Michael Block had largely retreated to a life of teaching the game at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California.

After his triumphant showing, Block made subsequent appearances at the Charles Schwab Challenge and RBC Canadian Open, but missed the cut in both events.

But the 47-year-old club pro — who forever became part of PGA Championship lore when he aced the 151-yard par-3 15th hole at Oak Hill on Sunday with a 7-iron — found lightning in a bottle again on Thursday when he traveled to Valhalla Golf Club in Lousiville as part of a scouting trip for next year’s tournament.

Block carded seven birdies and an eagle during the practice round on Thursday, finishing his round at 9 under and tying the course record, a mark that was set by Jose Maria Olazabal at the 2000 PGA Championship.

Block’s wild ride at the 2023 event in Upstate New York netted him nearly $300,000 as he placed him in a tie for 15th, captivating golf fans around the country in the process.

He also revealed that he had previously charged his students $150 per hour during his lessons.

During the final round, Block aced the par-3 No. 15 hole with a shot that he dunked straight into the cup, without even hitting the flagpole. The hole-in-one brought Block’s score to even-par after his up-and-down round.

Block was paired with Rory McIlroy, the No. 3 player in the Official World Golf Ranking and four-time major winner. After Block sunk his shot at 15, McIlroy went over and gave him a hug as both players smiled. Block, seemingly in disbelief, was caught on the broadcast saying: “That didn’t go in, did it? No, no. No way. No way.”

With his finish in the top 20, Block automatically earned a berth into the 2024 event at Valhalla.

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How many LIV Golf players should we expect at the 2024 PGA Championship?

As it currently stands, five players are in the field for the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Of the 156 golfers in the field for the 2023 PGA Championship last week, 18 played for the LIV Golf League. Eleven players made the weekend cut – including winner Brooks Koepka – and five went on to finish inside the top 20.

With Rochester, New York’s Oak Hill Country Club in the rearview and Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, faintly on the horizon, how many LIV players should we expect to see at the 2024 PGA Championship? As it stands now, not many.

Major championships can change their qualification criteria at their discretion, which golf fans recently witnessed with the USGA-Talor Gooch debacle. For the sake of this exercise, we’re going to assume the PGA of America will use the same 13 qualification criteria (and special invitations) for 2024 as it did for 2023.

Here’s how it shakes out:

Former PGA champions

Phil Mickelson and Koepka have lifetime exemptions, so get used to seeing them.

Winners of the last five U.S. Opens

Bryson DeChambeau won the 2020 U.S Open, making him exempt to the PGA until 2025.

Winners of the last five Masters

Dustin Johnson also won in 2020, so he’s also exempt in the PGA until 2025.

Winners of the last five Open Championships

Cameron Smith is in until the 2027 PGA after his performance last summer at St. Andrews in the Open.

Winners of the last three Players Championships

Smith is also double-dipping with his Players win last spring.

Top 3 on the Official World Golf Ranking International Federation Ranking List

Sihwan Kim, perennially at the bottom of the LIV leaderboards, is currently third on this list via his Asian Tour status. LIV has invested $300 million in the Asian Tour and created its International Series, where a certain number of LIV players are required to compete. Don’t expect more than one player to qualify this way.

The current Senior PGA Champion

Richard Bland, Phil Mickelson and Lee Westwood are LIV’s only members of the 50-and-over club, and none will be in the field for this week’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, May 24-28, at PGA Frisco in Texas.

The low 15 scorers and ties in the previous PGA Championship

Players could have qualified via this exemption, like club pro Michael Block, but the three who qualified inside the top 15 (Koepka, DeChambeau, Smith), are already qualified for 2024. Just missing out were Patrick Reed (T-18), Mito Pereira (T-18) and Harold Varner III (T-29)

The 20 low scorers in the last PGA Professional Championship

LIV players won’t compete in this event. Next.

The 70 leaders in PGA Championship points list

The list is based off official money earned on the PGA Tour since the previous PGA Championship. If you haven’t been following closely, a few lawsuits are ongoing that will keep this from happening.

Members of the most recent U.S. and European Ryder Cup Teams who are inside the top 100 of the OWGR one week before the PGA Championship

Because of the struggle to earn qualification points, LIV players are almost assuredly going to have to be captain’s picks if they have any shot at making the U.S. or European teams for the upcoming Ryder Cup later this fall in Italy. Future sure-fire captains such as Westwood, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter recently resigned their DP World Tour memberships, removing them from consideration to represent Team Europe.

Any tournament winner co-sponsored or approved by the PGA Tour since the previous PGA Championship

LIV’s antitrust lawsuit against the Tour and the Tour’s countersuit almost assuredly won’t be decided by next spring, so this criteria is also a wash.

Special invitations

That means using last year’s criteria and this year’s event, just five players – Koepka, DeChambeau, Smith, Johnson and Mickelson – are currently slated to make an appearance at Valhalla in 2024. The PGA Championship could create a category for LIV Golf players to qualify, but as it stands now, the only chance other players have to qualify is with a special invitation, by winning one of the next three majors or the Players, making a 2023 Ryder Cup team or via the International Federation Ranking List.

A player like who qualifies for next year’s PGA could take his talents from one of the tours to LIV Golf between now and next spring, similar to Thomas Pieters this year. That said, the rumor mill for defections to the Saudi Arabia-backed league has gone silent this season.

For now, we wait and see.

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