Gooch gets a free pass into PGA

LIV gets 7 late invites into Valhalla major; Stray Shots loves the drama

Dean Burmester did more than win on LIV to get PGA invite (Scott Taetsch/LIV Golf)

LIV gets 16 players in PGA field

There are a couple of ways to look at the PGA of America’s announcement Tuesday about the field for next week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club.

One is that it is recognizing LIV Golf, that it is giving exemptions to seven players not otherwise qualified for the year’s second major and acknowledging — for the first time outside of LIV — that some pretty good golf is being played and, perhaps, overlooked.

Or, you could note, that the PGA of America has a wide berth, with more than 30 discretionary invites at its disposal, and that it was inevitable that some LIV golfers, regardless of how they played on the breakaway circuit, were going to get a spot in the major that typically strives for the strongest field among Big Four.

The truth likely lies somewhere in whichever area where your allegiance falls.

The PGA unveiled its field just six days before the start of its championship next week at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky. To no one’s surprise, three-time PGA champion Tiger Woods was on the list. As was every player who is in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking. The official qualification criteria includes the top 70 in a year-long points list based on PGA Tour performance. There are also 20 PGA of America club pros in the field as well as past major winners. That leaves a lot of room for the PGA to fill out its 150-player field.

LIV players such as Adrian Meronk, Joaquin Niemann (who had been granted an invite previously), Lucas Herbert and Patrick Reed got invitations based on being ranked among the top 100 in the OWGR, a long-time unwritten guideline used to give spots.

The PGA gave an invite to Spaniard David Puig, who last year qualified for the U.S. Open and has played all around the world in the last nine months attempting to improve his world ranking. Puig settled at 106th in the OWGR, and the PGA rewarded him for his efforts, which included winning twice on the Asian Tour.

Gooch is the outlier. Good for the PGA for inviting him, but it’s hard to suggest this is some great acceptance of LIV Golf in the greater sphere of major championship golf.

The PGA also gave an invitation to South Africa’s Dean Burmester. The LIV fans will point out he won the LIV Golf Miami event the week prior to the Masters, but his body of work also included two victories in South Africa late last year on the DP World Tour, including the South African Open. That also earned him a spot in the Open Championship at Royal Troon.

His countryman and Stinger GC teammate Louis Oosthuizen also won two DP World Tour events late last year in Africa, but the 2010 Open champ declined an invite extended by the PGA citing a prior commitment.

That leaves Talor Gooch, the poster boy for LIV grievance. The reigning LIV player of the year who is outside of the top 600 in the OWGR, made headlines last week when he said he’d not be attempting to qualify for either the U.S. Open or the Open. Yet Gooch received an invite to the PGA Championship, giving LIV a total of 16 players in the field at Valhalla.

Gooch has done virtually nothing outside of LIV Golf in the past year, so it’s fair to surmise that the PGA is rewarding him for his LIV play, which saw him win three times last year and finish second to Brooks Koepka in the season-ending individual event. His success garnered him an $18 million bonus. He is coming off a fourth-place finish on Sunday at the LIV Golf Singapore event.

But in truth, Gooch is the outlier. Good for the PGA for inviting him, but it’s hard to suggest this is some great acceptance of LIV Golf in the greater sphere of major championship golf. The bottom line remains that no major offers any direct spots via LIV’s order of merit.

The U.S. Open has offered up one special invitation — to nine-time USGA champion Woods. It’s the first the USGA has handed out since 2019. The U.S. Open fills nearly half its field via qualifying.

The Open has gone to a system of granting spots via its Open Qualifying Series at events around the world. Niemann qualified by winning the Australian Open. Burmester the South African Open. The PGA Tour’s Will Zalatoris, for example, had a high finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational to earn a spot at Royal Troon. The Open does not give any direct access to LIV Golf.

The Masters doesn’t either, and this year it gave three special international exemptions — one of them to Niemann. In his pre-tournament comments, chairman Fred Ridley praised Niemann’s efforts in winning the Australian Open. He said nothing about his two LIV victories.

Gooch did himself no favors with his attitude about qualifying for two majors. But it is true that he was likely wronged last year by the USGA, which changed its wording that kept him from playing via the 2022 FedEx Cup top 30. The new language cited being eligible in good standing on the tour for which the exemption was awarded, and Gooch was suspended and not eligible to play the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship. That was a short-sighted move that only served to inflame the situation.

Now that all sides are allegedly working on a deal to reunify golf, perhaps the PGA of America’s move here was meant as a small hand across the aisle. But the bigger picture remains: the other majors are not recognizing LIV golfers, and what happens when major exemptions run out for LIV’s biggest stars?

Bryson DeChambeau has just one more year left on his five-year major exemptions for winning the 2020 U.S. Open. Same with Dustin Johnson for winning the 2020 Masters. Tyrrell Hatton is in the PGA based on his top-10 finish last year and still resides inside the OWGR top-50. Martin Kaymer, Phil Mickelson and Koepka are safe as past PGA champions. Jon Rahm and Cam Smith are qualified based on their 2023 Masters and 2022 Open victories, respectively — five years each through 2027. The last LIV player in the PGA field is former U.S. Amateur champion Andy Ogletree, who snagged one of three obscure Federation of PGA Tour’s OWGR spots via his success on the Asian Tour.

The 16 LIV players in the field at Valhalla is actually down two from last year at Oak Hill. It’s a strong representation given the roadblocks, but it’s still almost solely based on what players did outside of LIV. Gooch is the outlier and we will see if that remains the case going forward.

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Ben Kohles misses on 18 to lose his bid to win (David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Stray Shots: Even no-names bring the drama

By Peter Kaufman

1.  The CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Well now. Another bunch of no-names were in this hunt last weekend at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, a situation not helped by the early dismissal of Jordan Spieth. (What the heck is wrong with Spieth physically? Is his wrist still dogging him?)

However, it was super compelling drama nevertheless down the last hole on Sunday.

Let’s start with Ben Kohles. A graduate of University of Virginia (I confess to being very partial to the Wahoos), Kohles is 34 and, in days of yesteryear, he could be referred to as a “rabbit.” Meaning he has been here, there, everywhere. Famous for winning his very first two professional starts on what’s now the Korn Ferry Tour in 2012, he has played on several lesser tours. It’s one thing to win on the KFT (which he did again, twice, last year). It’s quite another to win at the Show.

The good news for Kohles: he was in the hunt and fired a closing 66. Impressive stuff.

He took a one-shot lead to the last, one ahead of Taylor Pendrith — a 32-year-old Canadian by way of Kent State, seeking his first PGA tour win. The 18th was not exactly baring fangs on Sunday; up until the last threesome, no bogeys had been recorded on the finishing hole.

A gettable par-5, 18 saw the big-hitting Pendrith on in two, 41 feet from from paydirt. the shorter-hitting Kohles came up short in some rather unattractive rough lying two. That is where the drama commenced. Kohles proceeded to chunk his pitch (am I the only one who thinks he double-hit it?) into equally gnarly rough just starboard of greenside bunker. The ensuing stance screamed “British Open,” what with both feet very uncomfortably in the bunker and requiring tremendous creativity.

He scraped it onto the green, 5 feet from his par. Then Pendrith cozied his eagle putt beautifully down the slope, leaving himself 3 feet for his birdie. If both players holed it, there would be a playoff.

But that was not to be. Kohles slid his putt so far off course he let go of the putter before it missed the hole. Pendrith holed his, a two-shot swing at the last to win the tournament outright thanks to Kohles turning in the lone bogey of the day on 18.

Golf is not just the hardest sport of all, but is often the most humanizing. One cannot hide beneath a helmet, or bury oneself on a bench, or call a time-out to regroup. So who amongst us — those who play and/or love the game — could fail to identify with Kohles travails on 18? One might be a trifle heartless not to be bleeding for Kohles, so close to a dream of winning on the Show, as the pitiless camera caught him wearing his dejected heart on his sleeve.

Conversely, the camera also caught Mrs. Pendrith (Megan), with her child, emoting her astonishment when Kohles missed, thereby opening the door for her husband, who finally was able to kick it open and close it out. A sincere bravo for Team Pendrith.

An ending truly worth sticking around for.

2. While it came down to Kohles and Pendrith at 18, a quick word about the third member of the final threesome, Jake Knapp. Knapp controlled in the early rounds, but stood still Sunday while others turned on the afterburners. Knapp has a ton of game, including length and touch, and he is appearing lately far too often in the mix to do anything other than have us believe he is a very talented young player who should not be part of the no-name brigade much longer. At 29, he too has served his time in the lower-ranked tours, and this year won his first PGA title in Mexico. 

3. Brooks Koepka. Don’t look now, but golf’s Darth Vader may be back in the building. One of the favorite “villains,” won his fourth LIV event last week in Singapore. And none too soon, given his voiced concerns about his lack of form just a week or so ago.

The PGA Championship defender, and winner of five majors, Koepka is a welcome addition to the upcoming major week. For some perspective, of current tour players Tiger Woods has 15 majors, Phil Mickelson has six and then there is Koepka at five. Pretty sporty company, and it can well be argued that whereas Woods and Mickelson have likely enjoyed their last major triumphs, Koepka may not be close to finished.

Only the Wells Fargo Championship, a signature event, stands this weekend between us and the next major. Chops are being licked.