LIV players warned US Open qualification could be harder in future

USGA chief executive Mike Whan admits he can foresee it becoming more difficult for players competing in the LIV Golf Invitational Series to qualify for the US Open.

The USGA announced last week that it would not prevent players who were already exempt from playing in this week’s 122nd US Open at Brookline, saying it would not be “appropriate, nor fair” to change the entry criteria once established.

However, their statement addressed only the 2022 US Open and added that their decision should not be construed as support for an “alternative organising entity” or the actions of individual players.

Two days later, the PGA Tour suspended 17 of their members who teed off in the inaugural LIV Golf event at Centurion Club.

Asked yesterday if he could see it becoming harder for LIV players to get into the year’s third Major, Whan simply replied: “Yes.”

Pressed on how that might be achieved, he added: “Well, first off, I just answered the question is could I foresee a day? Yeah, I could foresee a day. Do I know what that day looks like? No, I don’t. We need to take a long-term view of this and see where these things go so we’re not going to have a knee-jerk reaction to kind of what we do.

“I think it would be a lot of hypotheticals for me to get what LIV is going to be by the time we’re talking about this next year, but we’re going to definitely re-evaluate field criteria. We would any year. We will take a look at what the landscape looks like.

“I think our job is to make sure that we promote golf no matter how it’s played and at the same time sit back and make sure we assess what is or isn’t good for the game long term.

“But, hey, one thing that’s been great about this sport is athletes have had choice, and obviously some athletes are taking advantage of that choice. Doesn’t mean I have to like it.

“[But] I don’t get to build my field criteria based on what Mike Whan likes or what the three of us [fellow USGA officials Stu Francis and John Bodenhamer] like.

“We build a field criteria, we post it, and we let people play their way into it or out of it, and that’s how we made the decision on 2022.

“Whether we all like it or not, in February 30 guys played for the same promoter in Saudi Arabia with an acceptable release from the PGA Tour, and for years the DP World Tour has had an event there, same promoter.”