South African Trevor Immelman, chief analyst for CBS Sports, said in a recent media call: expressed his surprise Regarding Louis Oosthuizen’s withdrawal from the 2024 PGA Championship.
DataGolf also has South African Oosthuizen. Ranking 32nd player In the world. In December this year, he won the Alfred Dunhill Championship and the AfraAsia Bank Mauritius Open on the DP World Tour. He also finished second at the International Series Oman in February and has four top-10 finishes in LIV Golf events this season.
What’s more, the South African has proven himself on the biggest stages before, winning the Claret Jug in 2010 and coming close to winning the green jacket at Augusta National in 2012. .
Oosthuizen also tied for second at the PGA Championship twice, in 2017 and 2021.
So when the PGA of America announced the roster for the 106th PGA Championship early Tuesday morning, everyone, including Immelman, was shocked to see Oosthuizen wasn’t included.
But come and find out, Oosthuizen. Declined invitation from PGA of Americaaccording to Doug Ferguson. Associated Press and Bob Harig sports illustrated.
Ferguson pointed out that Oosthuizen declined the invitation to compete in “golf’s strongest field” for personal reasons. Specific details are unknown.
Nevertheless, the PGA of America invited six more LIV golfers in addition to the nine who had already qualified through different qualifying criteria.
Unlike Oosthuizen, Taylor Gooch, who has never competed in an event other than LIV Golf, received an invitation. So did David Puig, a young up-and-comer who followed in Oosthuizen’s footsteps and competed in numerous events around the world besides LIV.
Oosthuizen’s compatriot Dean Burmester will play at Valhalla. So are Australia’s Lucas Herbert, Poland’s Adrian Melonk and 2017 Masters champion Patrick Reed.
A total of 15 players will compete in the 2024 PGA Championship, with 16 receiving invitations. Last year at Oak Hill, he teed up 18 of his LIV Golf players, but Oosthuizen was not among them. He did not meet the eligibility criteria, and in the months leading up to Oak Hill, he did not play well enough to receive an invitation from the PGA of America.
However, he has significantly improved his game over the past eight months, which explains why he received the invitation this time. Nevertheless, the South Africans turned it down for some reason.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
