{"id":81360,"date":"2025-05-07T08:21:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T08:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/81360\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T08:21:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T08:21:09","slug":"liv-golf-star-with-166million-earnings-receives-surprise-late-pga-championship-invite-to-keep-streak-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/81360\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf star with $166million earnings receives surprise late PGA Championship invite to keep streak alive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dustin Johnson has been handed a Major lifeline by receiving a surprise invite to play the upcoming PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The former world No.1 hasn’t missed one of the four premier events since 2017 but as of Rory McIlroy’s triumph in Augusta<\/a>, he no longer has a guaranteed entry into the majors thanks to his 2020 Masters victory.<\/p>\n

\"Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Johnson has looked a shadow of his former self this seasonCredit: AFP<\/p>\n

Johnson’s form has slumped in LIV Golf<\/a> this year and he didn’t even come close to earning another exemption at The Masters<\/a> this year as he failed to make the weekend with two rounds in the 70s.<\/p>\n

With LIV events still not recognised by the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) system, that put his eight-year Major run in serious jeopardy ahead of the 2025 PGA Championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But Johnson, who boasts career earnings of around $166million, has been handed a special invitation <\/a>to play by the PGA of America.<\/p>\n

The two-time Major winner — who has finished runner-up twice in the tournament — has only cracked the top five once in LIV this season.<\/p>\n

Fans were not all best pleased at the 40-year-old’s inclusion.<\/p>\n

“Doesn’t deserve it… earn it with good play,” wrote one.<\/p>\n

“A mercy invite,” added another.<\/p>\n

“Field filler, will be a non factor if he even makes the cut,” insisted a third.<\/p>\n

With Joaquin Niemann, David Puig, Tom McKibbin, Sergio Garcia and Patrick Reed also being granted exemptions, there seems to be a concerted push to include LIV stars in the Championship.<\/p>\n

Despite his struggles, Johnson insists his game isn’t far off.<\/p>\n

\"Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

Johnson received a Green Jacket from Tiger Woods in 2020Credit: Getty\"He<\/a><\/p>\n

3<\/p>\n

He was one of the first massive stars to jump ship for LIVCredit: AFP<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m playing better than I scored for sure. Didn’t score very well,\u201d he said after his second round at Augusta. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, tough finish there. Played pretty solid all day until the last two holes. Golf is a funny game, as I did today, shooting one over. You play the same round and shoot four, five under.<\/p>\n

“Just a couple of putts here and there drop and gives you a little momentum, a little confidence, [and] it’s a different day.\u201d<\/p>\n

In two LIV outings since The Masters, Johnson has finished in ties for seventh and 34th.<\/p>\n

The last Major he failed to play in was at Augusta in 2017 when he was forced to pull out after slipping in his rental home before the tournament.<\/p>\n

Masters champion McIlroy<\/a> and Scottie Scheffler, <\/a>who is coming in off the back of a PGA Tour record score of 31<\/a>-under, are the joint-favourites ahead of LIV superstar Bryson DeChambeau<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other notable names to be handed PGA of America invites include Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, Cameron Young, Will Zalatoris and Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald.<\/p>\n

The 2025 PGA Championship will get underway at Quail Hollow on May 15<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Discover why Tiger Woods is sport’s pound-for-pound money king over Michael Jordan and Cristiano Ronaldo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dustin Johnson has been handed a Major lifeline by receiving a surprise invite to play the upcoming PGA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81361,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[4305,11080,39501,22482,39496,2826,4299,39497,16021,39500,39499,4298,39498,4287,4288,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-81360","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-augusta","9":"tag-bryson-dechambeau","10":"tag-david-puig","11":"tag-dustin-johnson","12":"tag-dustin-johnson-masters-exemption","13":"tag-golf","14":"tag-liv-golf","15":"tag-liv-tour","16":"tag-pga-championship","17":"tag-pga-championship-favorite","18":"tag-pga-championship-field","19":"tag-pga-tour","20":"tag-quail-hollow","21":"tag-rory-mcilroy","22":"tag-scottie-scheffler","23":"tag-sports","24":"tag-uk","25":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114465582993562997","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81360"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81360\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}