[Photo: Andrew Redington]
When was the last time Dustin Johnson didn’t play in a men’s major because he hadn’t qualified to compete?
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The answer requires you to go back almost 18 years, to August 2008 and the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills. Johnson, then just 24 and a little more than a year removed from his college days at Coastal Carolina University, was still two months away from claiming his first PGA Tour title. And that victory was the start of an impressive streak of winning at least one tour event every season through 2021, a run that saw him claim 24 PGA Tour titles before eventually defecting to LIV Golf in 2022.
Since Oakland Hills, Johnson has qualified for 68 straight majors, missing only three because of injury or personal reasons (the 2012 and 2017 Masters and the 2014 PGA). But with the 2026 PGA Championship two weeks away, the 41-year-old, two-time major winner is facing the very real prospect of being on the outside looking in at Aronimink Golf Club as he has yet to earn a place in the 156-player field competing outside Philadelphia.
When the PGA of America releases its preliminary field next week, the list will include recent major champions and PGA Tour winners from the past year who have claimed several dozen spots. Johnson isn’t part of either group.
Additionally, 70 players will earn exemptions through the PGA Championship points list, which is determined based on official money earned in PGA Tour events from last year’s PGA until this week’s Cadillac Championship. Since Johnson no longer plays on the PGA Tour, his finishes in majors only land him 199th on that list. So no qualifying there either.
And, of course, Johnson is not among the 20 club professionals who will earn spots after the final round of the PGA Professional Championship wraps up today (Australian time) at Bandon Dunes.
Where there is wiggle room is the fact that the PGA of America reserves the right to invite players who don’t qualify through its other criteria. Typically, these special exemptions are given to players inside the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking who aren’t already in the field, helping the PGA of America boast of having statistically the strongest field of any tournament. Johnson, though, ranks 461st on the OWGR, so it would have to be a major exception (pun intended) for officials to extend him a major exemption through its special invite clause.
That said, DJ does have six top-10 finishes – including runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2020 – in 16 previous PGA Championship starts, and he did play on five US Ryder Cup teams. Potentially, officials might be in a giving mood and extend Johnson an invite in recognition of an impressive career (or maybe out of pity for that rules blunder in the 2010 PGA at Whistling Straits that cost him a spot in the playoff).
There is precedent for this; a year ago, Johnson received an exemption despite being ranked 777th in the OWGR. He did have two top-10s in LIV events in the run-up to Quail Hollow to lean on. This year, Johnson has just one top-10 finish on the LIV league in six starts, making it harder to justify letting Johnson keep his streak alive.
