Which LIV Players Hold Major Exemptions?
One of the consequences of LIV Golf's emergence in 2022 is the uncertainty of which players are in, and which are out of future major championships. One of the main vehicles players use to qualify for major championships, the Official World Golf Ranking, doesn't award points to LIV Golf events, causing those players to free fall in the rankings. Players who don't have major exemptions through other avenues will be on the outside looking in at the 2023 majors.
Main Major Championship Exemptions
Each of the four major championships has its own criteria for giving exemptions, but of course there is quite a bit of overlap among the four. Each of the 18 LIV golfers who hold a major championship exemption did so through one of these six areas.
Since not every major offers each exemption listed, we noted next to the exemption which major(s) it applies to.
- OWGR Top 50 at end of the previous calendar year (Masters)
- Major champion from the last 5 years (Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, British Open)
- Tournament-Specific Exemptions for Past Champions (Lifetime Exemption for Masters & PGA Championship winners; Exemption through age 60 for British Open winners)
- U.S. Open champion from the last 10 years (U.S. Open)
- Qualified for the previous year's Tour Championship (Masters; U.S. Open, British Open)
- Top finishers at previous year's event (Masters: top-12; U.S. Open: top-10; PGA: top-15; British: top-10)
If you'd like to do some more research, here's a quick directory to complete exemptions and past champions for each of the four majors:
| Masters | PGA Championship | U.S. Open | British Open |
| Masters Exemptions | PGA Championship Exemptions | U.S. Open Exemptions | British Open Exemptions |
| Masters Winners | PGA Championship Winners | U.S. Open Winners | British Open Winners |
LIV Players Exempt Into Major Championships
In all,18 LIV Golf players are exempt into at least one more major championship. Seven of those players are exempt into all four majors in 2023, including defending British Open champion Cameron Smith. Patrick Reed, who won the 2018 Masters, is exempt into all four 2023 majors, but has no major exemptions beyond 2023. Here's the complete breakdown of which LIV golfers hold major championship exemptions.
| Player | Masters | PGA Championship | U.S. Open | British Open |
| Cameron Smith | Exempt through 2027 (2) | Exempt through 2027 (2) | Exempt through 2027 (2) | Exempt through 2053 (3) |
| Phil Mickelson | Exempt for life (3) | Exempt for life (3) | Exempt through 2026 (2) | Exempt through 2030 (3) |
| Dustin Johnson | Exempt for life (3) | Exempt through 2025 (2) | Exempt through 2026 (4) | Exempt through 2025 (2) |
| Bryson DeChambeau | Exempt through 2025 (2) | Exempt through 2025 (2) | Exempt through 2030 (4) | Exempt through 2025 (2) |
| Brooks Koepka | Exempt through 2024 (2) | Exempt for life (3) | Exempt through 2029 (4) | Exempt through 2024 (2) |
| Patrick Reed | Exempt for life (3) | Exempt through 2023 (2) | Exempt through 2023 (2) | Exempt through 2023 (2) |
| Joaquin Niemann | Exempt through 2023 (5) | Exempt through 2023 (5) | Exempt through 2023 (5) | Exempt through 2023 (5) |
| Martin Kaymer | Not exempt | Exempt for life (3) | Exempt through 2024 (4) | Not exempt |
| Louis Oosthuizen | Exempt through 2023 (1) | Not exempt | Not exempt | Exempt through 2042 (3) |
| Sergio Garcia | Exempt for life (3) | Not exempt | Not exempt | Not exempt |
| Bubba Watson | Exempt for life (3) | Not exempt | Not exempt | Not exempt |
| Charl Schwartzel | Exempt for life (3) | Not exempt | Not exempt | Not exempt |
| Henrik Stenson | Not exempt | Not exempt | Not exempt | Exempt until 2036 (3) |
| Abraham Ancer | Not Exempt | Exempt through 2023 (6) | Not exempt | Not exempt |
| Kevin Na | Exempt through 2023 (1) | Not exempt | Not exempt | Not exempt |
| Jason Kokrak | Exempt through 2023 (1) | Not exempt | Not exempt | Not exempt |
| Harold Varner III | Exempt through 2023 (1) | Not exempt | Not exempt | Not exempt |
| Talor Gooch | Exempt through 2023 (1) | Not exempt | Not exempt | Not exempt |
LIV Golf Players With no Major Exemptions
The following LIV Golfers do not hold exemptions for any majors in 2023 or beyond as of January 2023. Of course, with two of the four majors being "Open" championships, expect these players to attempt to qualify for the U.S. Open and British Open.
- Oliver Bekker
- Richard Bland
- Itthipat Buranatanyarat
- Lauie Canter
- Paul Casey
- Eugenio Chacarra
- Ratchanon Chanthananuwat
- Hennie Du Plessis
- Oliver Fisher
- Branden Grace
- Justin Harding
- Sam Horsfield
- Charles Howell III
- Yuki Inamori
- Matt Jones
- Sadom Kaewkanjana
- Phachara Khongwasmai
- Sihwan Kim
- Ryosuke Kinoshita
- Chase Koepka
- Jinchiro Kozuma
- Shergo Al Kurdi
- Anirban Lahiri
- Pablo Larrazabal
- Marc Leishman
- Viraj Madappa
- Graeme McDowell
- Jedia Morgan
- Shaun Norris
- Andy Ogletree
- Wade Ormsby
- Carlos Ortiz
- Adrian Otaegui
- Pat Perez
- Turk Pettit
- James Piot
- Ian Poulter
- David Puig
- JC Ritche
- Travis Smyth
- Ian Snyman
- Hudson Swafford
- Hideto Tanihara
- Cameron Tringale
- Peter Uihlein
- Scott Vincent
- Lee Westwood
- Blake Windred
- Bernd Wiesberger
- Matthew Wolff
- Kevin Yuan