It came as no surprise that Tiger Woods was not included in the field for the US PGA Championship May 18-21.
The 15-time major winner will officially miss the second major of the year as he recovers from ankle surgery.
The entry list for the major at Oak Hill Country Club was released Wednesday without the 47-year-old’s name.
Woods underwent successful surgery on his ankle to deal with arthritis 10 days after withdrawing from The Masters after his plantar fasciitis re-exacerbated.
His caddy was hired by Patrick Cantlay last week after receiving the endorsement from the 82-time PGA Tour winner, with Woods’ agent revealing there is no recovery timeline for him.
Tiger Woods will officially miss the PGA Championship as he recovers from ankle surgery
Woods’ caddy Joe LaCava (left) was hired by Patrick Cantlay last week
Meanwhile, LIV Golf will once again park its tanks on the PGA Tour lawn with Rebels and Loyalists on the verge of clashing after it was announced that 18 Rebels will compete in the US PGA Championship next week.
The tournament has been released full field for the second major of the year Wednesday, listing 18 members of the Saudi Arabia-funded breakout tour.
It appears that the PGA of America, which leads the major, has not deviated from its traditional method of inviting players from the top 100 into the Official World Golf Ranking, which, despite the ongoing saga of LIV’s exclusion from the rankings, 18 of his defectors.
The inclusion of the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka in Oak Hill comes after the same number of defectors played The Masters in Augusta last month.
In addition to Mickelson, Johnson and Koepka, LIV players heading to Oak Hill Country Club next week include British Open champion Cameron Smith, 2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and 2018 Masters winner Patrick Reed.
18 members of LIV Golf entered the PGA Championship field next week
Among the 18 LIV defectors is Phil Mickelson, 2021 PGA Championship winner (pictured)
Koepka came awfully close to a win last month, not just for himself, but for Greg Norman and his band of merry men.
Going into the final lap in the lead at Augusta, the American made a dramatic recovery from his struggles on the undulating course last year when he missed the cut.
Despite a collapse on the last lap and eventually being pecked to the Green Jacket by Jon Rahm, the performance gave some support to the Rebel circuit’s claim that it is still competitive and will certainly have given him a confidence boost by taking part to a major he won back. -back in 2018 and 2019.
Lead defector Mickelson delivered Jay Monahan and Co. shock last month when the six-time big winner on Masters Sunday skyrocketed in the standings to temporarily occupy the clubhouse leader’s spot, beating playing partner Jordan Spieth by one shot.
Of the 18 players who played at Augusta National, 12 made the cut, with three finishers in the top 10, but Louis Oosthuizen and Kevin Na pulled out.
LIV CEO Norman hopes his rebellion can do better this year with a win.
And it could be possible if Koepka, Mickelson and Martin Kaymer have all won the tournament before – the southpaw most recently at Kiawah Island in 2021 at age 50.
Outside of LIV, Justin Thomas will look to defend his title in Rochester, New York, after beating Will Zalatoris, who is out this year due to a back injury, in a playoff.
Missing the playoff by one stroke last year after a disastrous double bogey on 18th, Mito Pereira now plays for LIV Golf, but sealed his place in this month’s field due to his 2022 Southern Hills finish.
Meanwhile, Jason Dufner, who is in the field, will return to the scene of his only major championship win.
Koepka was eerily close to winning at The Masters last month ahead of Jon Rahm (R).
Justin Thomas will try to defend his title in Rochester, New York, following his playoff victory
The PGA Championship uses a points formula based on a year-long series of PGA Tour events that concluded after the Wells Fargo Championship.
It takes the top 70 otherwise not exempt, plus reserve seats for previous major championship winners plus the top 20 finishers in the PGA of America’s annual club pro tournament.
The PGA of America’s top-100 method sees Anirban Lahiri, ranked 98th in the world, Danny Willett, the 2016 Masters champion, who is ranked 99th in the world, and No. 100 Kazuki Higa of Japan all receive invites.
However, organizers also appear to be free to randomly invite whoever they want, including No. 131 Paul Casey and No. 108 Joel Dahmen in the field. Casey presumably due to his high finish in 2021 but absence last year due to injury and Dahmen due to his popularity with fans and Netflix fame.