United States Golf Association CEO Mike Whan has hinted at the formation of a direct pathway that would provide LIV Golf players access to the US Open, although he has questioned the need for it. Golfers currently playing on the Saudi-backed league are still unable to attain Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points, meaning some star names are only able to play in the four major championships via a special exemption from the event organisers.
As talks between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund – the backers of LIV Golf – continue to drag on with no end in sight, Whan conceded that a LIV pathway to the US Open could emerge should the two series remain divided.
“If you asked me a year ago, ‘What’s it going to be like in three months?’ I would have confidently given you an answer. I would have been confidently wrong,” he told Golfweek. “If LIV stays as a separate entity and keeps the quality of players that it’s got, can I envision a pathway to the U.S. Open through LIV? I can, but I’d like to see what the final product is, and we’re just not exactly sure we know that yet.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, 36 players from LIV had entered the US Open qualifying stages, with eight already extended exemptions for the tournament at Pinehurst No. 2 in June: Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Tyrrell Hatton, Brooks Koepka, Martin Kaymer, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith and Jon Rahm.
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Sixteen LIV players will also tee it up at the PGA Championship next week, marking the first time that the PGA of America has acknowledged players’ achievements on LIV. When questioned about whether the USGA felt compelled to create new opportunities for players who left the PGA Tour instead of merely encouraging them to qualify through the existing structures, Whan responded: “Well, it’s a little bit of both.
“I would point out that the first LIV event took place the weekend before the U.S. Open in 2022, which led to many players being suspended and caused a lot of frustration and challenges in professional men’s golf. Everyone was asking what the USGA and the U.S. Open were going to do.
“And we simply said, if you’ve qualified for the U.S. Open, you’re going to play in the U.S. Open, sending a very clear message early on. Last year, in 2023, I’m not sure if my numbers are exactly right, but we had 15 LIV players compete at LACC. That’s 30 per cent of the 50 players we consider LIV players teeing off at LACC.”
Whan, however, insists there are no barriers to LIV players qualifying for the US Open, even if they do not have an exemption due to previous major champion successes, with long-standing regional qualifiers they can enter. He stressed: “I think this year between the seven or eight players that have qualified through major wins there’s another 29 or 30 players that are already exempt into the final stage of qualifying. If they want to qualify, that’s up to them. But nothing is stopping you from playing the US Open and nothing ever has and nothing ever will.”
