Martin Kaymer is back in major action at the PGA Championship as a past champion this week, and the German wants to see more LIV Golf representation at the four flagship events
Martin Kaymer has called on the major championships to offer “more opportunities” to LIV Golf members as 16 players from the breakaway league descend on the PGA Championship this week.
Kaymer is one of those, having been included in the field thanks to his past-champion status, thanks to his win at the PGA back in 2010, the first of his two major victories. Since his move from the PGA Tour to the LIV setup in 2022, the German’s starts on the major stage have been sparse, but his efforts at Whistling Straits 15 years ago ensure he is good to go this week.
Initially, only 13 LIV players were eligible to compete in the second major of the season, but as they have done in previous years, the PGA of America offered invites to some of those in the breakaway circuit, including Dustin Johnson.
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Alongside Johnson, two of the league’s brightest rising stars in Tom McKibbin and David Puig were invited, but eyebrows were raised when the league’s fifth-best performer of the season, Lucas Herbert, was overlooked. The invites in recent years have been a step in the right direction for LIV.
Despite a rapid rise to the top of the golfing pyramid in recent years, the Saudi-backed setup has struggled to make itself known on the flagship stage, but things have started to improve. Along with invites to the PGA Championship and Masters, the R&A and USGA have provided a pathway for LIV players to qualify for the Open Championship and U.S. Open through their performances on the circuit.
Joaquin Niemann became the first to take advantage, after his win in Mexico City this month booked him a place to play in the U.S. Open at Oakmont next month. And whilst progress is being made, two-time major winner Kaymer wants to see more put in place to help those on the LIV circuit play in the sport’s biggest events.
“Everybody should come together,” Kaymer told Mirror U.S. Sports on the current state of the game, more specifically at the majors. “The guys who got the invites definitely deserve them, and there should be more opportunities for LIV players to participate in majors.
“We are talking about major championships, the best players in the world, and with LIV Golf, there are some of the best players in the world. If there were an easier and better pathway for us to qualify, then that would be amazing.”
Kaymer himself has access to the PGA Championship for life thanks to his 2010 win, and even 15 years on, his major breakthrough is still fresh in the memory. Looking back at his victory, he commented: “I think Nick Watney was leading by five shots going into the final round, and my main goal was to just make the Ryder Cup team at that time.
“So my main goal was to make the cut, I did that. Then Sunday I didn’t think I had a chance of winning because he was leading by so much. But after six holes, I was looking at the leaderboard and I said to my caddie, ‘Look, we are leading a major. ’”
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Kaymer’s thought process soon changed from leading a major to winning one, with his conversation with caddie Craig Connelly partway round an important one. “I said to Craig again, ‘No matter what happens today, I can say I have led a major in my career’.
And then he said, ‘Why not try winning it?’. I said, ‘Well, it is a long way to go’. That sticks out in the memory. I felt really happy in that moment that I was leading a major… The drama of the playoff and with DJ, when he grounded his club on 18 and got a penalty, there was a lot happening. But that moment when Craig and I had that conversation on six, that sticks out for me.”