2023 PGA Championship Field: Top 100 Players Invited as Usual, 18 LIV Golfers Heading to Oak Hill

The PGA of America did not deviate from its usual method of filling the field for the year's second major.
2023 PGA Championship Field: Top 100 Players Invited as Usual, 18 LIV Golfers Heading to Oak Hill
2023 PGA Championship Field: Top 100 Players Invited as Usual, 18 LIV Golfers Heading to Oak Hill /

The PGA Championship stuck with its tradition of inviting players from the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking, meaning 18 LIV Golf League players will be in the field at Oak Hill Country Club next week.

Justin Thomas will attempt to defend his title at the Rochester, N.Y., venue where Jason Dufner—who is in the field—won his lone major championship in 2013. Shaun Micheel, who won the PGA at Oak Hill in 2003 for his only PGA Tour title, is also scheduled to play.

Anirban Lahiri, ranked 98th in the world, is a LIV player who made it into the field via the top 100, while No. 103 Cameron Tringale of LIV did not. Danny Willett, the 2016 Masters champion, who is 99th in the world and No. 100 Kazuki Higa of Japan are in the field. Higa also qualified via the International Federation due to his finish on the Japan Tour. No. 101 Ben Taylor was also invited, as were several others beyond 100.

Paul Casey at No. 131 in the world was invited, perhaps due to his high finish in 2021 but missing due to injury last year. The PGA of America can randomly invite any player, hence Joel Dahmen, who is not in the top 100, also got an invite.

SI World Golf Rankings

The PGA Championships uses a points formula based on a year-long run of PGA Tour events that concluded after the Wells Fargo Championship. It takes the top 70 from the last who are not otherwise exempt, plus reserves spots for the winners of past major championships plus the top 20 finishers in the PGA of America’s annual club pro tournament.

Among the LIV players are reigning British Open champion Cam Smith, two-time PGA champion Brooks Koepka, 2020 Masters winner Dustin Johnson, 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson, a six-time major winner who captured his second PGA two years ago to become the oldest major champion in the game’s history. Patrick Reed, who won the 2018 Masters, is in the field based on his world ranking.

Mickelson, 52, missed last year’s PGA Championship, where Thomas won in a playoff over Will Zalatoris, who is out due to back surgery. Mito Pereira, who missed a playoff last year by a stroke and now plays for LIV, is also in the field based on his finish a year ago.

American Sihwan Kim, who has not finished higher than 45th in any of the 48-player LIV events this year, is in the field via his third-place finish in a Federation of International Tours ranking that is being used for the first time this year. Kim won twice last year on the Asian Tour.


PGA Championship Full Field

Alker, Steven – New Zealand
Ancer, Abraham – Mexico
Arnaus, Adri – Spain
Beach, Alex – Stillwater, MN [CP]
Bezuidenhout, Christiaan – South Africa
Block, Michael – Mission Viejo, CA [CP]
Bradley, Keegan – Woodstock, VT
Buckley, Hayden – Tupelo, MS
Burmester, Dean – South Africa
Burns, Sam – Shreveport, LA
Cahill, Matt – Palm Beach Gardens, FL [CP]
Cantlay, Patrick – Jupiter, FL
Clark, Wyndham – Denver, CO
Conners, Corey – Canada
Cordes, Anthony – Johns Creek, GA [CP]
Dahmen, Joel – Scottsdale, AZ
Davis, Cam – Australia
Day, Jason – Australia
DeChambeau, Bryson – Dallas, TX
Detry, Thomas – Belgium
Donald, Luke – England
Droemer, Jesse – Houston, TX [CP]
Dufner, Jason – Auburn, AL
Echavarria, Nico – Colombia
English, Harris – Sea Island, GA
Finau, Tony – Lehi, UT
Fitzpatrick, Matthew – England
Fleetwood, Tommy – England
Fowler, Rickie – Murrieta, CA
Fox, Ryan – New Zealand
French, Chris – Rockford, IL [CP]
Gooch, Talor – Edmond, OK
Griffin, Ben – Chapel Hill, NC
Grillo, Emiliano – Argentina
Grove, Russell – Coeur d’Alene, ID [CP]
Hadwin, Adam – Canada
Hardy, Nick – Northbrook, IL
Harman, Brian – St. Simons Island, GA
Harrington, Pádraig – Ireland
Hatton, Tyrrell – England
Henley, Russell – Columbus, GA
Herbert, Lucas – Australia
Higa, Kazuki – Japan
Hodges, Lee – Athens, AL
Hoge, Tom – Fort Worth, TX
Højgaard, Nicolai – Denmark
Højgaard, Rasmus – Denmark
Holmes, Steve – Simi Valley, CA [CP]
Homa, Max – Valencia, CA
Horschel, Billy – Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Hoshino, Rikuya – Japan
Hossler, Beau – Mission Viejo, CA
Hovland, Viktor – Norway
Hubbard, Mark – The Woodlands, TX
Hughes, Mackenzie – Canada
Im, Sungjae – South Korea
Inglis, Colin – Creswell, OR [CP]
Jaeger, Stephan – Germany
Johnson, Dustin – Jupiter, FL
Johnson, Zach – Cedar Rapids, IA
Kaewkanjana, Sadom – Thailand
Kern, Ben – Grove City, OH [CP]
Killeen, JJ – Lubbock, TX [CP]
Kim, Si Woo – South Korea
Kim, Sihwan – Las Vegas, NV
Kim, Tom – South Korea
Kirk, Chris – Athens, GA
Kisner, Kevin – Aiken, SC
Kitayama, Kurt – Las Vegas, NV
Koch, Greg – Orlando, FL [CP]
Koepka, Brooks – West Palm Beach, FL
Kuchar, Matt – Jupiter, FL
Lahiri, Anirban – India
Larrazábal, Pablo – Spain
Lawrence, Thriston – South Africa
Lee, K.H. – South Korea
Lee, Min Woo – Australia
Lowry, Shane – Ireland
MacIntyre, Robert – Scotland
Matsuyama, Hideki – Japan
McCarthy, Denny – Jupiter, FL
McIlroy, Rory – Northern Ireland
McNealy, Maverick – Las Vegas, NV
Meronk, Adrian – Poland
Micheel, Shaun – Collierville, TN
Micheluzzi, David – Australia
Mickelson, Phil – Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Mitchell, Keith – St. Simons Island, GA
Molinari, Francesco – Italy
Montgomery, Taylor – Las Vegas, NV
Moore, Taylor – Edmond, OK
Morikawa, Collin – La Cañada, CA
Mullinax, Trey – Birmingham, AL
NeSmith, Matthew – Aiken, SC
Niemann, Joaquín - Chile
Noren, Alex – Sweden
Olesen, Thorbjørn – Denmark
Otaegui, Adrián – Spain
Paul, Yannik – Germany
Pendrith, Taylor – Canada
Pereira, Mito – Chile
Perez, Victor – France
Pieters, Thomas – Belgium
Pigman, Kenny – Norco, CA [CP]
Poston, J.T. – Sea Island, GA
Power, Séamus – Ireland
Putnam, Andrew – University Place, WA
Rahm, Jon – Spain
Reavie, Chez – Scottsdale, AZ
Reed, Patrick – The Woodlands, TX
Reynolds, Gabe – Dallas, TX [CP]
Riley, Davis – Hattiesburg, MS
Rodgers, Patrick – Jupiter, FL
Rose, Justin – England
Ryder, Sam – Longwood, FL
Sanger, Chris – Red Hook, NY [CP]
Schauffele, Xander – San Diego, CA
Scheffler, Scottie – Dallas, TX
Schenk, Adam – Vincennes, IN
Scott, Adam – Australia
Shattuck, Braden – Aston, PA [CP]
Shinkwin, Callum – England
Simpson, Webb – Charlotte, NC
Smalley, Alex – Greensboro, NC
Smith, Cameron – Australia
Smith, Jordan – England
Somers, John – Brooksville, FL [CP]
Spaun, J.J. – Scottsdale, AZ
Speight, Josh – Locust Hill, VA [CP]
Spieth, Jordan – Fort Worth, TX
Stallings, Scott – Oak Ridge, TN
Steele, Brendan – Idyllwild, CA
Stevens, Sam – Wichita, KS
Straka, Sepp – Austria
Strydom, Ockie – South Africa
Suh, Justin – San Jose, CA
Svensson, Adam – Canada
Taylor, Ben – England
Taylor, Nick – Canada
Theegala, Sahith – Houston, TX
Thomas, Justin – Louisville, KY
Thompson, Davis – St. Simons Island, GA
Todd, Brendon – Watkinsville, GA
Varner III, Harold – Gastonia, NC
Walker, Jimmy – San Antonio, TX
Wallace, Matt – England
Wells, Jeremy – Estero, FL [CP]
Willett, Danny – England
Wise, Aaron – Ellerbe, NC
Woodland, Gary – Topeka, KS
Worthington II, Wyatt – Reynoldsburg, OH [CP]
Wu, Brandon – Scarsdale, NY
Yang, Y.E. – South Korea
Young, Cameron – Scarborough, NY
[CP] – PGA Professional


Published
Bob Harig
BOB HARIG

Bob Harig is a senior writer covering golf for Sports Illustrated. He has more than 25 years experience on the beat, including 15 at ESPN. Harig is a regular guest on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio and has written two books, "DRIVE: The Lasting Legacy of Tiger Woods" and "Tiger and Phil: Golf's Most Fascinating Rivalry." He graduated from Indiana University where he earned an Evans Scholarship, named in honor of the great amateur golfer Charles (Chick) Evans Jr. Harig, a former president of the Golf Writers Association of America, lives in Clearwater, Fla.