LIV Golf has finally got an official pathway into a men's Major Championship ahead of its fourth campaign getting underway this week.
The top LIV Golfer not already exempt, who is inside the top three of the individual standings by May 19, will earn their way into the 2025 US Open, the USGA has confirmed.
While this is groundbreaking news and a huge step forward for the league, it could potentially lead to no LIV player earning the spot as the top three by May 19, following the seventh event of the season in Korea, may be made up of three players who are exempt into the US Open anyway.
There are seven LIV players already in the field for Oakmont - Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Richard Bland. Tyrrell Hatton is also highly likely to qualify via his world ranking. If the top three is occupied by these players, nobody extra will make it into the US Open automatically.
That being said, the top 10 players from the 2025 LIV Golf individual standings as of April 7, 2025 will be directly exempt into Final Qualifying, so there should be at least a few extra LIV Golfers getting the chance to play their way in on 'Golf's Longest Day.'
The USGA also announced that two LIV players will have the chance of full exemptions for the 2026 US Open, with the top player, who is inside the top three of the standings, at the end of 2025 and by May 18, 2026 earning their way in. Again, this could lead to no players being invited if LIV's already exempt players occupy those spots.
Still, this can be seen as a huge step forward for the league after a number of impressive bits of business over the winter months. The Saudi-backed circuit has signed a new US TV deal with Fox, brought in a new CEO, signed six new players and welcomed a number of new brand deals for the league and its teams.
Could the other three Majors follow suit?
Attention will now turn to whether the other three men's Majors look to introduce pathways for the LIV Golf League.
Augusta National has invited Joaquin Niemann into the field for the second consecutive year, and Niemann and Sergio Garcia have been invited into this year's PGA Championship but neither have an official pathway yet.
The R&A, which runs The Open, has not announced its criteria for 2025 yet and could well follow the USGA in announcing a similar pathway for LIV Golfers. Augusta National and PGA of America could opt to do the same for their events in 2026.
LIV Golf might have hoped for two or three guaranteed exemptions instead of the potential for one this year and two in 2026, with Kevin Na telling Golf Monthly that every LIV Golf tournament winner should qualify for all four men's Majors and Joaquin Niemann telling us that the top 10 should qualify.
The fact of the matter, though, is that LIV finally has a cast iron exemption category into a men's Major so this has to be seen as a big win for the 54-hole tour and should prompt the other three Majors to do something similar.
It further legitimises the league and strengthens its position in the world of golf.
Whether the other three men's Majors do follow the USGA's lead, go even further or continue to ignore the 54-hole circuit remains to be seen.
