2025 PGA Championship:
Elite Field Headed To Charlotte
As NC Hosts Yet Another Golf Major
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(updated May 14, 2025)
North Carolina hosted its first major golf championship in 1936, then had to wait 38 years for another.
This time, just 11 months after hosting the 2024 U.S. Open in Pinehurst, the Old North State will welcome the golf world — and yet another star-studded field — to the 2025 PGA Championship this week in Charlotte.
The event will mark the sixth major championship held in North Carolina in the past 27 years, with four U.S. Opens being contested at Pinehurst #2 and two PGA Championships being hosted at Quail Hollow Club.
Major Golf Championships In North Carolina
Year—Event, Venue, City (Winner)
1936—PGA Championship, Pinehurst #2, Pinehurst (Denny Shute)
1974—PGA Championship, Tanglewood Park, Clemmons (Lee Trevino)
1999—U.S. Open, Pinehurst #2, Pinehurst (Payne Stewart)
2005—U.S. Open, Pinehurst #2, Pinehurst (Michael Campbell)
2014—U.S. Open, Pinehurst #2, Pinehurst (Martin Kaymer)
2017—PGA Championship, Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte (Justin Thomas)
2024—U.S. Open, Pinehurst #2, Pinehurst (Bryson DeChambeau)
2025—PGA Championship, Quail Hollow Club, Charlotte (TBD)
Among the top 100 golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), 99 are expected to compete this week at Quail Hollow. The field, announced last week (see below), is scheduled to include 29 major champions, 14 PGA champions, three World Golf Hall of Famers and three Ryder Cup captains.
The only top-100 golfer who has said he won’t be part of the competition in Charlotte is veteran Billy Horschel, who is #24 in the OWGR. He announced last Tuesday that he will undergo surgery on his right hip this week, in what he described as a “preventative measure.”
The PGA Championship, which distributed an $18.5 million purse last year (the 2025 purse will be announced shortly), is the only golf major that reserves 20 spots for club professionals. Those participants were determined in late April, during the PGA Professional Championship.
Highest-Ranked 2025 PGA Championship Participants
(Official World Golf Ranking)
#1 Scottie Scheffler, USA
#2 Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland (pictured above)
#3 Xander Schauffele, USA
#4 Collin Morikawa, USA
#5 Justin Thomas, USA
#6 Ludvig Aberg, Sweden
#7 Hideki Matsuyama, Japan
#8 Russell Henley, USA
#9 Viktor Hovland, Norway
#10 Maverick McNealy, USA
#11 Tommy Fleetwood, England
#12 Shane Lowry, Ireland
#13 Bryson DeChambeau, USA
#14 Justin Rose, England
#15 Wyndham Clark, USA
#16 Patrick Cantlay, USA
#17 Sepp Straka, Austria
#18 Keegan Bradley, USA
#19 Sungjae Im, South Korea
#20 Tyrrell Hatton, England
#21 Robert MacIntyre, Scotland
#22 Corey Conners, Canada
#23 Brian Harman, USA
#25 Min Woo Lee, Australia
#26 Akshay Bhatia, USA (based in Wake Forest, N.C., for many years)
#27 Daniel Berger, USA
#28 J.J. Spaun, USA
#29 Aaron Rai, England
#30 Thomas Detry, Belgium
#31 Sahith Theegala, USA
#32 Jason Day, Australia
#33 Sam Burns, USA
#34 Andrew Novak, USA
#35 Harris English, USA
#36 Nick Taylor, Canada
#37 Lucas Glover, USA
#38 Tony Finau, USA
#39 Byeong Hun An, South Korea
#40 Adam Scott, Australia
#41 Tom Kim, South Korea
#42 Tom Hoge, USA (Statesville native)
#43 Denny McCarthy, USA
#44 J.T. Poston, USA (Hickory native; played at Hickory HS, Western Carolina University)
#45 Max Greyserman, USA
#46 Jordan Spieth, USA
#47 Taylor Pendrith, Canada
#48 Stephan Jaeger, Germany
#49 Nico Echavarria, Colombia
#50 Nick Dunlap, USA
Other NC Notables
#58 Ben Griffin, USA (Chapel Hill native; played at East Chapel Hill HS, UNC)
#71 Will Zalatoris, USA (played at Wake Forest University)
#80 Ryan Gerard, USA (Raleigh native; played at Ravenscroft School, UNC)
Listed below are all players who received invitations to the 2025 PGA Championship, including their manner of qualification. Players who fit multiple descriptions are listed with only one category each.
As it stands, the Quail Hollow field includes players representing 27 countries/territories: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, England, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Scotland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Venezuela and the United States.
PGA Champions (Lifetime Exemptions)
Rich Beem (declined), Keegan Bradley, John Daly (declined), Jason Day, Jason Dufner, Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer, Brooks Koepka, Davis Love III (declined), Rory McIlroy, Shaun Micheel, Phil Mickelson, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele, Vijay Singh (withdrew), Justin Thomas, Jimmy Walker, Tiger Woods (injured), Y.E. Yang (declined)
British Open Champions (Last Five Years)
Brian Harman, Shane Lowry, Cameron Smith
Masters Champions (Last Five Years)
Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler
U.S. Open Champions (Last Five Years)
Wyndham Clark, Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Fitzpatrick
International Federation Ranking (Top Three)
John Catlin, Takumi Kanaya, Daniel Van Tonder
Senior PGA Champion
Richard Bland
Top 15/Ties From 2024 PGA Championship
Dean Burmester, Thomas Detry, Lee Hodges, Billy Horschel (withdrew/injury), Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre, Taylor Moore, Alex Noren, Justin Rose, Sahith Theegala
Top 20 From PGA Professional Championship
Brian Bergstol, Brandon Bingaman, Michael Block, Andre Chi, Tyler Collet, Jesse Droemer, Bobby Gates, Larkin Gross, Justin Hicks, Nic Ishee, Tom Johnson, Michael Kartrude, Greg Koch, Ryan Lenahan, Dylan Newman, John Somers, Bob Sowards, Eric Steger, Rupe Taylor, Timothy Wiseman
2024-25 PGA Tour Winners (2024 Charles Schwab Challenge-Present)
Ludvig Aberg, Brian Campbell, Rafael Campos, Cameron Davis, Nick Dunlap, Nico Echavarria, Austin Eckroat, Harris English, Ryan Fox, Harry Hall, Russell Henley, Garrick Higgo, Joe Highsmith, Patton Kizzire, Min Woo Lee, Matt McCarty, Maverick McNealy, J.T. Poston, Aaron Rai, Davis Riley, Sepp Straka, Nick Taylor, Davis Thompson, Jhonattan Vegas, Karl Vilips, Kevin Yu
Top 70 In PGA Championship Points
Byeong Hun An, Daniel Berger, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Akshay Bhatia, Jacob Bridgeman, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Bud Cauley, Eric Cole, Corey Conners, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau, Lucas Glover, Max Greyserman, Ben Griffin, Adam Hadwin, Tom Hoge, Mackenzie Hughes, Sungjae Im, Stephan Jaeger, Michael Kim, Si Woo Kim, Tom Kim, Denny McCarthy, Andrew Novak, Taylor Pendrith, Seamus Power, Patrick Rodgers, Adam Scott, J.J. Spaun, Sam Stevens
2023 Ryder Cup Players (Top-100 In OWGR Only)
Tyrrell Hatton, Nicolai Hojgaard, Max Homa
Asian Swing On European Tour (Top Three)
Eugenio Chacarra, Keita Nakajima, Marco Penge
Special Invitations
Laurie Canter, Luke Donald, Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Ryan Gerard, Ryo Hisatsune, Rasmus Hojgaard, Beau Hossler, Dustin Johnson, John Keefer, Chris Kirk, Kurt Kitayama, Jake Knapp, Thriston Lawrence, Justin Lower, Max McGreevy, Tom McKibbin, Keith Mitchell, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Joaquin Niemann, Niklas Norgaard, Shaun Norris (withdrew/personal), Thorbjorn Olesen, John Parry, Matthieu Pavon, David Puig, Patrick Reed, Elvis Smylie, Sami Valimaki, Eric van Rooyen, Matt Wallace, Gary Woodland, Cameron Young, Will Zalatoris
Alternates (Already Promoted Into Field)
Patrick Fishburn, Rico Hoey, Michael Thorbjornsen, Victor Perez
Remaining Alternates (In Selection Order)
Alex Smalley, Vince Whaley, Doug Ghim, Matt Kuchar, Carson Young, David Lipsky
