LIV Golf adds another in PGA Championship field while another rejects the offer

On a recent call with the media, South African Trevor Immelman, the lead analyst for CBS Sports, expressed his surprise at Louis Oosthuizen’s omission from the 2024 PGA Championship.

DataGolf lists Oosthuizen, also a South African, as the 32nd-ranked player in the world. This past December, he won the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open on the DP World Tour. He also finished second at the International Series Oman in February and has recorded four top-10s in LIV Golf events this season.

Plus, the South African has proven himself on the biggest stages before, winning the Claret Jug in 2010 and coming close to claiming a Green Jacket at Augusta National in 2012.

Oosthuizen has also tied for second twice at the PGA Championship, in 2017 and 2021.

Hence, when the PGA of America released its field for the 106th PGA Championship early Tuesday, everyone, including Immelman, was shocked to see Oosthuizen not included.

Photo by Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images

But come to find out, Oosthuizen declined the PGA of America’s invitation, per Doug Ferguson of The Associated Press and Bob Harig of Sports Illustrated.

Ferguson noted that Oosthuizen turned down the invite to compete in the “strongest field in golf” for personal reasons. Specific details are unknown.

Nevertheless, the PGA of America invited six more LIV Golf players in addition to the nine that had already gained entry through different qualifying criteria.

Talor Gooch, who, unlike Oosthuizen, has not played in any events outside of LIV Golf, received an invite. As did young up-and-comer David Puig, who has followed in Oosthuizen’s footsteps and competed in numerous events around the globe outside of LIV.

Oosthuizen’s fellow countryman, Dean Burmester, will play at Valhalla as well. So, too, will Australian Lucas Herbert, Adrian Meronk of Poland, and 2017 Masters champion Patrick Reed.

In all, 15 players will tee it up at the 2024 PGA Championship, while 16 received invites. Last year, at Oak Hill, 18 LIV Golf players teed it up, but that did not include Oosthuizen. He did not meet the qualifying criteria, nor had he played well enough to receive an invite from the PGA of America in the months leading up to Oak Hill.

But he has vastly improved his game over the past eight months, which explains why he received an invite this time around. And yet, the South African turned it down for whatever reason.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.