FILE PHOTO: Apr 10, 2025; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Dustin Johnson plays his shot from the fifth tee during the first round of the Masters Tournament. Grace Smith-Imagn Images/File Photo
(Reuters) -LIV Golf's Dustin Johnson has been given a special invitation to compete in next week's PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the field unveiled on Tuesday for the year's second major.
Winners of the last five Masters are eligible to play in the PGA Championship, which means former world number one Johnson's exemption from his 2020 triumph at Augusta National had run out.
But according to PGA Championship eligibility requirements the PGA of America, which is the national governing body and organiser of the major, "reserves the right to invite additional players" who did not meet the other eligibility criteria.
Former world number one Johnson missed the cut at last month's Masters and has recorded two top-10 finishes in seven LIV Golf events so far this season.
The two-times major winner, who finished runner-up at the PGA Championship in 2019 and 2020, will be one of 16 LIV members in the 156-player field next week.
Among the other LIV Golf players in the field are Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann.
The PGA Championship runs from May 15-18.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in TorontoEditing by Toby Davis)
