The PGA of America has announced that LIV Golf players will be able to compete in the Ryder Cup and PGA Championship, marking a significant upgrade to golf’s current division. The PGA of America is a separate organization from the PGA Tour, which is involved in ongoing discussions about the future of golf with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, LIV Golf’s financial backer.
Brooks Koepka played on the Ryder Cup team last year as a member of LIV, largely due to his victory at the 2023 PGA Championship. LIV players have competed in the PGA Championship in recent seasons, largely due to their existing eligibility through victories they accrued prior to joining LIV Golf.
In making the announcement, the PGA of America said, “All LIV Golf players are eligible to compete in the PGA Championship and any U.S. player who qualifies for the Ryder Cup on points or is added to Team USA as a Captain’s Pick is eligible to compete.”
This formalizes what was until now a Actually The LIV’s player ranking system is very different. Koepka, for example, played well enough at the PGA Championship to earn a spot on the Ryder Cup team through points. Notably, the PGA hasn’t clarified what “eligible” means, which is problematic given that the easiest way to become “eligible” is to be ranked in the top 70 of the Official World Golf Ranking. However, the OWGR does not currently recognize LIV golf tournaments as valid for ranking purposes, so LIV players must play for their spot through other means, or hope for special invitations from the PGA, as Joaquin Niemann did earlier this year to earn a spot in the PGA Championship.
The PGA Tour and PIF continue to discuss how to mend the schism in professional golf, more than a year after announcing a “master” agreement. The sticking points appear to be whether to “punish” LIV players for defections and how to reinstate LIV players in more events that would give them ranking points and thus access to all four majors.
