Dustin Johnson is going to Aronimink after all. The 2020 Masters champion and two-time major winner has been awarded a special exemption into the 2026 PGA Championship by the PGA of America, ensuring his streak of major championship appearances reaches 18 consecutive years.
The 4 Aces GC captain confirmed the news on social media on May 5, with the LIV Golf team posting that 'the 18 year major streak continues.' Johnson, who has played in every major since making his debut at the 2008 PGA Championship, was in genuine danger of having that run snapped. His exit from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf in 2022 cost him the major exemption pathways most former champions take for granted, and his current world ranking of outside the top 100 left him without an automatic route into Aronimink.
According to LIV Golf's coverage of the announcement, Johnson said he was 'very thankful' for the chance to play. The PGA of America, which retains discretionary power to invite players whose presence is judged to enhance the field, has not publicly outlined the criteria used in his case. Past major champions inside a defined recency window are routinely considered, and Johnson — the 2020 Masters champion and 2016 U.S. Open winner — comfortably falls inside that bracket.
The decision divided the golf world. The first wave of reaction on social media was largely supportive, with fans pointing to the relevance of a former world No. 1 in any major field. But pockets of backlash emerged quickly, particularly given the simultaneous news that two-time PGA champion Phil Mickelson had withdrawn citing a family health matter, and that Tiger Woods would also be absent. Critics argued that an exemption to a 41-year-old LIV player whose ranking has slipped, when the field has lost both Woods and Mickelson on its own, suggests the championship is leaning into name recognition.
Golf Monthly described the rationale as 'confusing,' noting that Johnson does not hold the kind of recent form that traditionally underpins these invitations. He has not won on LIV Golf since the 2023 Tulsa event and has missed the cut or finished outside the top 30 in his most recent majors. His best finish at the PGA Championship, a tie for fifth at Kiawah Island in 2021, is now five years old.
What the exemption does guarantee is one of the most recognisable players in the sport on a famous Donald Ross design hosting its first PGA Championship since 1962. Johnson is among the longest hitters of his era, and Aronimink's wide corridors framed by mature trees should suit his preferred high cut off the tee. Restorations to the bunker complexes and green surrounds by architect Gil Hanse, completed ahead of the championship, are expected to reward players who can carry the ball the necessary distances to take the fairway bunkers out of play.
Johnson is one of 12 LIV Golf players in the Aronimink field, joining Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Joaquin Niemann and others who qualified through major championship exemptions, top-50 ranking pathways, or special invitations. The PGA of America has been more open to LIV players than the U.S. Golf Association traditionally has been, and Johnson's invitation is the most high-profile signal yet that being on LIV does not preclude major access for those with the right pedigree.
For Johnson, the goal at Aronimink is straightforward: to make a streak that no one else in the modern era has matched continue. For the PGA of America, the calculation is simpler still. With Tiger and Phil out, having a former world No. 1 in the field looks a price worth paying.