It has been nearly two years since a LIV Golf member won a major, when Bryson DeChambeau hoisted the 2024 U.S. Open trophy.
Eleven LIV players are set to compete at the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink outside of Philadelphia this week. One of them claiming the Wanamaker Trophy would provide a much-need lift for the fledgling league, and there are two among the top five betting favorites.
We rank all 11 players in this week’s field and analyze their chances of snapping LIV’s major drought.
MARTIN KAYMER (+450000 at DraftKings)
Qualified By: Past Champion (2010)
Sitting at 1,160th in the Official World Golf Ranking, Kaymer’s only major last year was a missed cut at the PGA. He has played in six LIV events this year with a best showing of T25 in Mexico City. The Cleeks Golf Club captain hasn’t been relevant on the worldwide stage in several years and currently sits 52nd in LIV’s individual standings.
ELVIS SMYLIE (+130000)
Qualified By: Special Invite
Smylie, 24, won his LIV Golf debut in Riyadh in February, but it has been mostly tough sledding since. He did finish T8 in Hong Kong but hasn’t fared better than T28 in his past six worldwide events and is coming off a T46 at LIV Golf Virginia. The Australian has made the cut in one of three previous major starts — a T72 at last year’s PGA.
DUSTIN JOHNSON (+23000)
Qualified By: Special Invite
The two-time major champion narrowly ran his streak to 69 consecutive majors in which he’s eligible to play when he was extended an invite last week. A two-time PGA runner-up, he has six top-10 finishes in this major. But there is little to suggest that Johnson will be a factor this week. He did manage a T33 at the Masters after missing the cut in three of four 2025 majors. He also has a lone top-10 result through seven LIV events this year.
CAMERON SMITH (+35000)
Qualified By: The Open Champion (2022)
The former World No. 2 insists his competitive fire continues to burn strongly, but his game has mostly flamed out over the past two years against elite fields. That includes six consecutive missed cuts at majors. He has a pair of top-10s on LIV this year following a runner-up at the Australian Open to close out 2025, but has gone T39 and T26 on LIV after failing to make the cut at the Masters last month.
TOM McKIBBIN (+34000)
Qualified By: Special Invite
The 23-year-old will make his sixth major start and second consecutive at the PGA Championship. A former mentee of Rory McIlroy, McKibbin is considered one of the most talented young players on LIV. He is still quite raw on the major stage, however, and also missed the cut at Augusta last month. He did rebound to finish T5 at LIV Golf Mexico City before a missed cut on the DP World Tour and a T21 in Virginia last week.
DAVID PUIG (+12000)
Qualified By: Special Invite
Puig, 24, placed second to Jon Rahm at LIV Golf Mexico City for his best finish to date in the league. His T60 at last year’s PGA was one of one three times Puig has reached the weekend at a major. He does have four top-10s on LIV this year and won the 2025 BMW Australian PGA Championship for his most notable victory to date.
THOMAS DETRY (+14500)
Qualified By: Special Invite
Detry has made a big impact in his debut LIV season as he sits fourth in the individual standings. The 33-year-old’s best previous finish in a major was T4 at the PGA at Valhalla two years ago, and he’s working to secure a spot in next month’s U.S. Open. Ranked 61st in the world, Detry did win the 2025 WM Phoenix Open by seven shots, so he has proven the talent to pull away from quality fields.
JOAQUIN NIEMANN (+10000)
Qualified By: Top 15 at 2025 PGA Championship
The Chilean star has struggled so far in 2026 to find the form that saw him win five individual LIV titles last year. Niemann does have a solo fourth in Singapore and a T8 at Virginia, and he tied for eighth at the 2025 PGA before missing the cut at the final two majors of the year. Last year’s PGA was the only top-10 major finish to date for the 27-year-old.
TYRRELL HATTON (+5900)
Qualified By: Ryder Cup participant (2025)
Hatton’s 66 tied for the low round on Sunday at the Masters, which helped him rocket up to a T3 and took a bit of the sting away from an otherwise very poor showing by LIV at Augusta. He remains 26th in the world rankings and has a trio of top-10 finishes on LIV in 2025, although he is coming off a modest 17th at Virginia. The 34-year-old has a reputation for playing well on some of the world’s most difficult courses, and he has at least one top-10 result at each of the four majors, highlighted by a T4 at last year’s U.S. Open.
BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU (+1850)
Qualified By: U.S. Open Winner (2020), Top 15 at 2024 PGA Championship, Top 70 PGA Championship points
DeChambeau rallied to finish third in Virginia after being 12 shots off the pace of eventual winner Lucas Herbert entering the weekend. He appears to be over the wrist injury that forced him to withdraw from Mexico City following a missed cut at the Masters. DeChambeau has finished runner-up at each of the past two PGAs, including a dramatic one-shot deficit to Xander Schauffele in 2024 and tying for second-place honors five shots behind Scottie Scheffler last year.
JON RAHM (+1375)
Qualified By: U.S. Open Winner (2021), Masters Champion (2023), Ryder Cup participant (2023, ‘25)
Rahm admitted at the Masters that he has been tinkering with a few things with his swing in search of more consistency. After a T38 at Augusta, the Spaniard went on to win LIV Golf Mexico City and finished T8 at Virginia. Rahm also finished T8 at the 2025 PGA before a T7 at the U.S. Open, so he’s one of the few LIV Golf stars who have managed to stay consistently relevant on the major stage.
Rahm, 31, has never appeared particularly concerned about critics or the current noise around LIV’s future. However, he also has a spotty track record at the PGA Championship, with his best finish to date being a T4 at Bellerive back in 2018. He does lead the current individual LIV standings by a wide margin.
–Derek Harper, Field Level Media
