Does PGA Championship allow amateurs to play? Exploring the rules of participation and more

The 2023 PGA Championship is set to tee off on Thursday, May 18. After the heroics of the American amateur Sam Bennett at the 2023 Augusta Masters, one question that is all over the internet is if amateurs are allowed to compete at the Championship.

So to answer that question, PGA Championship is a 72-hole stroke play event especially for a professional golfer and this automatically sidelines the possibility of amateurs participating in the event.

Justin Thomas with the 2022 PGA Championship trophy (via Getty Images)

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What are the qualification criteria for participating in the 2023 PGA Championship?

The PGA of America has a certain number of qualification requirements that a golfer must meet in order to qualify for the Championship. Not more than 156 players shall take the field at the tournament.

Here are the qualification requirements for the Championship qualification:

• All past winners of the PGA Championship.
• Masters Tournament (last five winners).
• US Open Champion (last five winners).
• British Open Championship (last five winners).
• THE PLAYERS Championship (last three winners).
• Top three ranked golfers on OWGR in the International Federation Rankings List (by April 24).
• 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship winner.
• 2022 PGA Championship (top 15 on the leaderboard).
• 2023 PGA Professional Championship (top 20 on the leaderboard).
• Top 70 eligible players from the 2022 AT&T Byron Nelson through the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship who have earned the most PGA Championship points.
• Members of the 2021 Ryder Cup team (only if they rank in the top 100 on OWGR before May 7, 2023).
• Winners of PGA Tour-approved tournaments (between the 2022 Charles Schwab Challenge and the 2023 AT&T Byron Nelson).

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Are LIV golfers allowed to participate in the 2023 PGA championship?

Despite being barred to compete at the PGA Tour events, LIV golfers still get invited to play at the major tournaments. Even in the last major, 2023 Masters tournament, 18 players from the Saudi-backed league received an invite.

However, fans wonder why are the LIV golfers allowed to play at major golf tournaments, if they are banned to compete on the Tour. The answer is quite simple, all four major are separate entities and are not overlooked by the Tour.

Just like this year's Masters, the 2023 PGA Championship officials have also extended invitations to 18 LIV golfers who qualified through the set of qualification criteria.

Here are the names of 18 players invited to the upcoming major tournament:

• Abraham Ancer
• Dean Burmester
• Paul Casey
• Bryson DeChambeau
• Talor Gooch
• Dustin Johnson
• Martin Kaymer
• Sihwan Kim
• Brooks Koepka
• Anirban Lahiri
• Phil Mickelson
• Joaquin Niemann
• Mito Pereira
• Thomas Pieters
• Patrick Reed
• Cameron Smith
• Brendan Steele
• Harold Varner III

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2023 PGA Championship: Prize pool explored

The traditional 72-hole stroke play event, which also happens to be the second major tournament of the season, commences on May 18.

A total of 156 professional golfers will tee off for the prestigious Championship Cup and a whopping paycheck of $2.7 million.

However, the figure is based on last year's tournament payout distribution, which had a prize pool of $15 million. It is quite certain that the prize pool will remain the same this year too.