2024 PGA Championship Field Includes Tiger Woods, All of World’s Top 100 Players

May 7, 2024 Jimm Sallivan

The field is out for next week’s PGA Championship, and as expected the top 100 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are all on the list.

Actually, the top 103 in the world are in the 156-player field for Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., as well as a couple of intriguing names at No. 644 and No. 801 in the world.

No. 801 is Tiger Woods, the four-time PGA champion who won in 2000 at Valhalla in a thrilling playoff over Bob May. Woods set the consecutive-cuts-made record last month at the Masters before fading on the weekend to 60th, but left Augusta National optimistic for the rest of the majors this season. He accepted a special exemption to the U.S. Open last week.

No. 644 is LIV Golf’s Talor Gooch, who confirmed his special exemption from the PGA of America on Monday via his social media. His spot appears to underline the PGA of America’s desire to have the strongest possible field in its major; Gooch was a three-time winner and LIV Golf’s player of the year in 2023.

LIV Golf’s David Puig and Dean Burmester also received exemptions. Puig has won twice on the Asian Tour in the last seven months and is 106th in the world, while Burmester won back-to-back DP World tour events to end 2023 and won on LIV last month in Miami.

There are 15 LIV golfers in the field. Brooks Koepka is the defending PGA champion, a three-time PGA winner overall and coming in off a win last week in Singapore. Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed and Cameron Smith are other past major champions from LIV Golf in the field.

Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1 who won last month at the Masters, is scheduled to compete but is on baby watch at home with wife Meredith. He is skipping this week’s Wells Fargo Championship, a signature event on the PGA Tour.

As usual, the field also includes 20 PGA professionals who qualified via the annual PGA Professional Championship. The total PGA professional count is 21, as Michael Block returns after a T15 finish last year at Oak Hill which earned him a spot at Valhalla.

The winners of this week’s Wells Fargo and Myrtle Beach Classic on the PGA Tour will receive spots in the field if they’re not in already.

Below is the full field for the the PGA Championship, which is May 16-19.

Åberg, Ludvig – SWEDEN
An, Byeong Hun – REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Beem, Rich – Austin, TX
Bevell, Josh – Nashville, TN (CFT)
Bezuidenhout, Christiaan – SOUTH AFRICA
Bhatia, Akshay – Wake Forest, NC
Björk, Alexander – SWEDEN
Blair, Zac – Orem, UT
Block, Michael – Mission Viejo, CA (CFT)
Bowser, Evan – Naples, FL (CFT)
Bradley, Keegan – Woodstock, VT
Burmester, Dean – SOUTH AFRICA
Burns, Sam – Shreveport, LA
Cantlay, Patrick – Jupiter, FL
Clark, Wyndham – Denver, CO
Cole, Eric – Tequesta, FL
Cole, Preston – Charlotte, NC (CFT)
Collet, Tyler – Vero Beach, FL (CFT)
Conners, Corey – CANADA
Daly, John – Cleawarter Beach, FL
Davis, Cameron – AUSTRALIA
Day, Jason – AUSTRALIA
DeChambeau, Bryson – Dallas, TX
Detry, Thomas – BELGIUM
Dobyns, Matt – Glen Head, NY (CFT)
Donald, Luke – ENGLAND
Dufner, Jason – Auburn, AL
Dunlap, Nick – Tuscaloosa, AL
Eckroat, Austin – Edmond, OK
English, Harris – Sea Island, GA
Finau, Tony – Lehi, UT
Fitzpatrick, Matthew – ENGLAND
Fleetwood, Tommy – ENGLAND
Fowler, Rickie – Murrieta, CA
Fox, Ryan – NEW ZEALAND
Garnett, Brice – Gallatin, MO
Glover, Lucas – Jupiter, FL
Gooch, Talor – Oklahoma City, OK
Griffin, Ben – Chapel Hill, NC
Grillo, Emiliano – ARGENTINA
Gross, Larkin – Center Cross, VA (CFT)
Hadwin, Adam – CANADA
Harman, Brian – Saint Simons Island, GA
Harrington, Pádraig – IRELAND
Hatton, Tyrrell – ENGLAND
Henley, Russell – Columbus, GA
Herbert, Lucas – Orlando, FL
Hisatsune, Ryo – Japan
Hodges, Lee – Athens, AL
Hoffman, Charley – San Diego, CA
Hoge, Tom – Fort Worth, TX
Højgaard, Nicolai – DENMARK
Højgaard, Rasmus – DENMARK
Homa, Max – Scottsdale, AZ
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 – REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Jaeger, Stephan – GERMANY
Johnson, Dustin – Jupiter, FL
Jones, Jared – Houston, TX (CFT)
Kanaya, Takumi – JAPAN
Kaymer, Martin – GERMANY
Kellen, Jeff – Rockford, IL (CFT
)Kim, Si Woo – REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Kim, Tom – REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Kirk, Chris – Watkinsville, GA
Kitayama, Kurt – Las Vegas, NV
Knapp, Jake – Costa Mesa, CA
Kobori, Kazuma – NEW ZEALAND
Koepka, Brooks – West Palm Beach, FL
Kohles, Ben – Dallas, TX
Lawrence, Thriston – SOUTH AFRICA
Lee, Kyoung-Hoon – REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Lee, Min Woo – AUSTRALIA
List, Luke – Augusta, GA
Lowry, Shane – IRELAND
MacIntyre, Robert – SCOTLAND
Malnati, Peter – Knoxville, TN
Marek, Brad – Berkeley, CA (CFT)
Matsuyama, Hideki – JAPAN
McCarthy, Denny – Jupiter, FL
McIlroy, Rory – NORTHERN IRELAND
McNealy, Maverick – Stanford, CA
Mendoza, Kyle – Oceanside, CA (CFT)
Meronk, Adrian – POLAND
Micheel, Shaun – Colliersville, TN
Mickelson, Phil – Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Mitchell, Keith – Saint Simons Island, GA
Molinari, Francesco – ITALY
Montgomery, Taylor – Las Vegas, NV
Moore, Taylor – Southlake, TX
Morikawa, Collin – La Canada, CA
Mueller, Jesse – Phoenix, AZ (CFT)
Murray, Grayson – Raleigh, NC
Nakajima, Keita – JAPAN
Niemann, Joaquin – CHILE
Noren, Alex – SWEDEN
Norrman, Vincent – SWEDEN
Oakley, Zac – King of Prussia, PA (CFT)
Ogletree, Andy – Alpharetta, GA
Olesen, Thorbjorn – DENMARK
Otaegui, Adrian – SPAIN
Pavon, Matthieu – FRANCE
Pendrith, Taylor – CANADA
Perez, Victor – FRANCE
Phillips, Tracy – Tulsa, OK (CFT)
Polland, Ben – Teton Village, WY (CFT
)Poston, J.T. – Sea Island, GA
Puig, David – SPAIN
Putnam, Andrew – University Place, WA
Rahm, Jon – SPAIN
Rai, Aaron – ENGLAND
Reed, Patrick – The Woodlands, TX
Rodgers, Patrick – Avon, IN
Rose, Justin – ENGLAND
Schauffele, Xander – San Diego, CA
Scheffler, Scottie – Dallas, TX
Schenk, Adam – Vincennes, IN
Scott, Adam – AUSTRALIA
Shattuck, Braden – Aston, PA (CFT)
Smith, Cameron – AUSTRALIA
Smith, Jordan – ENGLAND
Soderberg, Sebastian – SWEDEN
Somers, John – Clearwater, FL (CFT)
Speight, Josh – Dallas, TX (CFT)
Spieth, Jordan – Dallas, TX
Straka, Sepp – AUSTRIA
Stricker, Steve – Madison, WI
Svensson, Adam – CANADA
Svensson, Jesper – SWEDEN
Svoboda, Andy – Oak Brook, IL (CFT)
Taylor, Nick – CANADA
Theegala, Sahith – Spring, TX
Thomas, Justin – Louisville, KY
Todd, Brendon – Watkinsville, GA
Tosti, Alejandro – ARGENTINA
Valimaki, Sami – FINLAND
van Rooyen, Erik – SOUTH AFRICA
van Velzen, Ryan – SOUTH AFRICA
Villegas, Camilo – COLOMBIA
Walker, Jimmy – Terrell Hills, TX
Wallace, Matt – ENGLAND
Wells, Jeremy – Estero, FL (CFT)
Widing, Tim – SWEDEN
Woodland, Gary – Topeka, KS
Woods, Tiger – Jupiter, FL
Worthington II, Wyatt – Las Vegas, NV (CFT)
Yang, Y.E. – REPUBLIC OF KOREA
Young, Cameron – Jupiter, FL
Zalatoris, Will – Dallas, TX

CFT — Corebridge Financial Team/PGA Professionals

2 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Brooks Koepka Not Sounding Optimistic With PGA Championship Looming: ‘Trying to Find Some Answers’

With his PGA Championship title defense looming, Brooks Koepka is searching for the game that saw him win a fifth major championship last year at Oak Hill Country Club.

He didn’t sound extremely confident during a news conference Thursday in advance of the LIV Golf Singapore event, which begins Friday morning (9:15 p.m. ET Thursday).

“Clearly not very good,” Koepka said when asked how his game was trending in advance of the PGA at Valhalla, which begins May 16. “With Augusta the way that it went, I kind of felt like I wasted all the time from December until then. Just keep grinding away, keep doing the work, and hopefully something will turn around.”

Brooks Koepka reacts to a putt during the 2024 Masters. — Brooks Koepka shot four over-par rounds at the Masters and finished T45.

Michael Madrid, Michael Madrid / USA

Koepka was referring to the Masters, where he tied for 45th and was never really in the tournament after tying for second last year. He opened with a 73 and added rounds of 73, 76 and 75.

That came after weekend rounds of 78-78 in LIV’s event in Miami the weekend prior.

Koepka lamented his putting, which caused a putter switch a few weeks back. Although he tied for 19th in the putting stats at Augusta National, he believes that’s been the main source of his trouble.

He switched to a mallet putter recently.

“It’s been in the bag two weeks before Augusta, I haven’t even putted with that other putter, the one I’ve putted with for—the button back I’ve probably putted with for 12, 14 years, I haven’t putted with it since then,” he said.

“I can’t find the hole at all, to be honest with you. Something we’ve just been putting some work into, so trying to find some answers.”

Asked what the main issue is, Koepka said: “Ball doesn’t go in the hole, that’s usually one of them. I don’t know how else to simply put it. I feel like I’m hitting good putts, they just keep burning lips. Eventually it starts to wear on you after a while. All you can do is hit a good putt and see where it goes from there. Hopefully they start falling soon.”

In six LIV Golf events so far this year, Koepka has only been on the fringe of contention, with two top 10s, including a tie for 10th on Sunday in Adelaide.

5 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Brooks Koepka Picks Up Fourth LIV Golf Win in Singapore

Brooks Koepka became the first player to win four times as part of the LIV Golf League, shooting a final-round 68 at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore on Sunday to beat Cam Smith and Marc Leishman by two strokes.

His timing wasn’t bad, either.

A few days after offering concern about his game in light of a poor Masters performance, Koepka stepped up and won the LIV Golf Singapore even to give himself a boost heading into the defense of his PGA Championship title in two weeks.

The year’s second major begins on May 16.

“It’s all starting to come around,” said Koepka, who last year won his fifth major title when he captured the PGA at Oak Hill, becoming the first active LIV golfer to win a major. “I like the way things are trending.’’

They didn’t seem to be trending well just a few days ago when Koepka made clear he was not happy with his tie for 45th at the Masters. “I felt like I wasted all that time from January up until then,’’ he said.

He tied for 10th at the LIV Golf event in Adelaide the week prior and heading into the Singapore tournament that he simply needed to get putts to drop.

“I’ve put in a lot of work,’’ he said. “I feel like on the golf course, off the golf course, it’s been a good two weeks, to say the least. Take a week off and then grinding pretty hard with (instructor) Claude (Harmon) over the last few days, I thought that was very important. Kind of started to see it turn maybe Wednesday, Thursday of Adelaide, so to see it pay off here is huge.”

Koepka won his third PGA Championship Wanamaker Trophy last year. In each of his first four major victories, he won back-to-back at the 2017 and ’18 U.S. Opens and the 2018 and ’19 PGAs.

After a second-round 64, Koepka started the final round with a three-shot lead over Abraham Ancer, Adrian Meronk, Thomas Pieters and Mathew Wolff. He never relinquished his lead, although several challengers closed the gap at times.

“I felt the heat, but it was mainly because of how hot it was,” Koepka said. “Just played very consistent, missed it in the right spots. When you're playing with a lead, you do that. You don't have to force anything.”

Smith and Leishman were part of the winning Ripper GC team, capturing the team title for the second straight week.

6 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Brooks Koepka Undervalued, Ludvig Aberg Overvalued in PGA Championship Odds

The golf season's second major is two weeks away and we’re already seeing some interesting odds movement ahead of the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on May 16-19.

PGA Tour rookie Ludvig Aberg has shot up the odds board this year and somehow has shorter odds than multiple major champions who are playing as well, if not better than him currently.

One of those players is reigning PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka. A three-time winner of this event coming off an impressive performance that led to victory on the LIV Tour, Koepka is somehow sitting behind Aberg in odds to win, which seems insane considering his form and history at this event. But here we are.

Koepka is currently the fifth-betting favorite with odds of +1600 at FanDuel Sportsbook to hoist his fourth Wanamaker Trophy.

Aberg is +1500 at FanDuel to win the title. That’s tied with two-time major champion Jon Rahm for the third-shortest odds. Only Scottie Scheffler (+400) and Rory McIlroy (+1100) have shorter odds at FanDuel than Aberg.

Directly behind Aberg in the FanDuel odds are Xander Schauffele (+2100), Wyndham Clark (+2400), Collin Morikawa (+2900), and Cameron Smith (+2900), among others. Clark, Morikawa and Smith have all won majors and Schauffele has three-times more top fives in majors (6) than Aberg has appearances.

This is Aberg's second major championship appearance and first PGA Championship. Since its inception in 1916, only nine players have won the PGA Championship in their first appearance. Morikawa was the most recent in 2020. Before that it was Keegan Bradley in 2011 and Shaun Micheel in 2003.

Not impossible, but not likely either.

Aberg finished second at the Masters and T-10 at the RBC Heritage the week after. He’s playing in the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo this week and his performance will be worth monitoring. Those odds still seem high given his lack of experience playing in majors.

Koepka, meanwhile, has rounded into form after a disappointing T-45 finish at the Masters. He admitted he felt “embarrassed” by his performance at Augusta and has a greater focus since, which has led to better results on LIV.

He won the LIV Golf tournament in Singapore this past weekend and shot a three-round 14-under to finish 10th in Australia the week before. His putter was on fire in Singapore and he continues to be one of the best ball strikers in the game.

Koepka won back-to-back PGA Championships in 2018-2019. He also won back-to-back U.S. Open titles in 2017-2018. Clearly, he knows how to string together major wins in the same event.

While he hasn’t played well at the most recent two majors (T-64 at the British Open last year to go along with his T-45 at Augusta), putting Koepka behind Aberg in the odds seems wild. Even DraftKings having Koepka and Aberg tied at +1600 is surprising.

Aberg has proven he can play with the most elite players in the world. But he’s yet to prove he can beat them. His lone PGA Tour win was a fall event last year where the top competitor was Mackenzie Hughes at four strokes behind him.

Not exactly a pressure-packed moment.

Aberg faced that pressure at Augusta on the back nine Sunday and pulled his approach shot into the water on 11 and made a double bogey. He rebounded with two birdies on 13 and 14, but he was so far behind Scheffler at that point there the pressure was gone.

This is not to say Aberg won’t contend at the PGA Championship or win a major in the future, maybe even this year. This is more of a note on the odds being off based on experience and historical performance.

Koepka should be ahead of Aberg in the odds, not behind or tied with him. That’s a bet worth considering.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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2024 PGA Championship Field Includes Tiger Woods, All of World’s Top 100 Players

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Jimm Sallivan