"The only influence is the success of LIV" - Greg Norman reacts to LIV Golfers receiving invites to the 2024 PGA Championship

After Talor Gooch, other LIV golfers such as Dean Burmester, Patrick Reed, Adrian Meronk, David Puig and Lucas Herbert also received an invitation to participate in the PGA Championship at Valhalla from the PGA of America.

Recently, reacting to the number of invites received by the LIV golf players, CEO Greg Norman said (via golfmagic.com):

"The only influence is the success of LIV, our players, our penetration/acceptance, and our platform. The players deserve the respect and should have received it from day one."

The PGA of America invited Gooch based on his performance at LIV Golf. He received no invitation to the Masters held in April and was also restricted from participating at the US Open last year due to an error.

Talor Gooch earned $39.5 million from individual competitions along with an additional bonus of $18 million for ranking first as an individual at the end of the edition.

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LIV golfers will compete at the US PGA Championship at Valhalla

The 2024 PGA Championship will be held from May 16-19, 2024 at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky. PGA of America announced the full field that will be seen competing at Valhalla next week, with two spots reserved for winners of the Wells Fargo Championship and Myrtle Beach Classic.

LIV golfers Talor Gooch, Dean Burmester, Adrian Meronk, Lucas Herbert, David Puig and Patrick Reed will also be spotted as they have received exemptions to participate in the PGA Championship.

Of all the players, Burmester has had the most success, winning back-to-back DP World Tour events in 2023 followed by his first LIV Golf title in Miami, propelling him to third place in the rankings for the season.

The one noticeable name missing from the LIV golf's list of invitations appears to be Louis Oosthuizen. He had two wins in the DP World Tour at the end of 2023 and finished runner-up twice in the breakaway league this year.

There will be a total of 15 LIV Golf players playing in the field of the US PGA Championship, which is two more than last month's Masters.

Last year, Seth Waugh, the CEO of the PGA Championship, dismissed LIV's long-term viability and said (via bunkered.co.uk):

“I don’t think people really care about it, And I don’t see how it’s a survivable business model. They can fund it for as long as they want to, but no matter how much money you have, at some point, burning it doesn’t feel very good.

“I don’t see they are accomplishing much. It seems logical to me, then, that you would work towards some sort of agreement. I hope the game comes back together in some form."

Going from that to offering 15 spots to LIV golfers, it seems like this year will be considered a significant victory for the Saudi league.