LIV Golf member Dustin Johnson will participate in next week's PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the list of participants that was revealed Tuesday.
Johnson is a two-time major winner, coming out on top in the 2016 U.S. Open and the 2020 Masters. His Masters win allowed him to participate in the next five PGA Championships regardless of qualification status, but that exemption ended last year.
Johnson's inclusion in the field means he received a special exemption from the PGA of America, which oversees the event. Johnson's best PGA finish was second place in both 2019 and 2020.
Johnson, 40, has finished in the top 10 of two LIV events this season, but missed the cut at the Masters in April. He was a 24-time winner on the PGA Tour before adding three more titles since joining the LIV circuit.
Unlike the U.S. Open and Open Championship, the PGA chose not to create a category for LIV. That's similar to the Masters, which can invite players through its special exemptions.
"That's what we have done the last three years and continue to do so," said Kerry Haigh, the championships director for the PGA of America. "We have that flexibility to be able to invite those players who are deserving from whichever tour."
The PGA of America takes the top 70 from PGA points -- a PGA Tour money list from the past 12 months -- and then goes beyond that to fill the field. In this case, it did not go beyond the top 70, leaning more on the world ranking.
The world ranking formula was changed in 2023 and is more heavily weighted toward PGA Tour events because of stronger fields.
The Saudi-funded LIV Golf League will have 16 players in the 156-man field at Quail Hollow -- the same number as last year. That includes John Catlin, a reserve who has played three LIV tournaments this year. He qualified through his Asian Tour performance.
Other LIV Golf members who were listed in the field include Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith, Joaquín Niemann and Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin, the world No. 115 who spent only two weeks in the top 100 before joining LIV earlier this year.
Xander Schauffele is the defending PGA Championship winner, after he came out on top in the season's second major at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Schauffele is in the field along with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, who won the Masters last month.
The PGA Championship also offered an exemption to Rickie Fowler, who has plunged to No. 125 in the world. There is a category for players in the most recent Ryder Cup -- Fowler was at Marco Simone in Italy -- provided they are among the top 100 in the world.
Fowler's first PGA Tour victory was at Quail Hollow in 2012.
The PGA Championship runs from May 15 to May 18.
The Associated Press and Field Level Media contributed to this report.