The second major of the season is right upon us. The PGA Championship is taking place at Quail Hollow, and Xander Schauffele will mount his first major title defense there. But a lot of golfers are looking to claim the throne for themselves, with the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy currently holding the best odds for victory. But waiting patiently in the field of 156 golfers are the LIV golfers who are looking to make a statement here.

And in a move that will embolden them, the organizing committee has decided to hand special invites to two LIV golfers—Tom McKibbin and David Puig. Sharing the news of his participation, Puig wrote on Instagram, “Next up @pgachampionship!! Let’s go!!!” The two golfers are promising prodigies and are 22 and 23 years old, respectively. They are also participating in the DP World Tour simultaneously. But their selection has come under some speculation.

There have always been special invites handed to players who have been impressive in other circuits but failed to qualify for the major. Joaquin Niemann competed in the recently concluded Masters Tournament at Augusta thanks to a special invite from the organizing committee. So it is not news that golfers get these invites. But the choice of players was a bit odd, especially considering that more in-form players are not competing in the circuit.

Take Lucas Herbert, for example. He has been doing a great job in the LIV circuit and recently finished T2 at LIV Golf Mexico and is currently 5th in the points list. Sebastian Munoz has also been having a very consistent season and is 6th in the individual points list, one place below Herbert. Choosing Puig and McKibbin has made several golf fans question the process behind the invites.

Golf fans are bothered by not-so-special invites for the PGA Championship

One fan was curious as to the qualifications behind the invite. He tweeted, “Based on what?”  And it is pretty understandable. The Brit Tom McKibbin hasn’t been particularly impressive on either the LIV circuit or the European Tour. In three starts this year on the DP World Tour, McKibbin has finished T3 and T6 at the Porsche Singapore Classic and the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, with the latter coming against a strong field consisting of the likes of Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton. But he finished T88 in the Ras Al Khaimah Championship.

Puig, on the other hand, has been fairly impressive on the DP World Tour, finishing third at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship and T4 in the Bahrain Championship. But these achievements are apparently not enough to impress a few of the folks, with one user quipping, “Who?” as a way of referring to their achievements as not being enough to tilt the scales. Another user also ridiculed the invite, stating, “Stop inviting randoms.”

On the LIV circuit as well, the British golfer has been fairly average. He has only two top 10 finishes in seven events so far, and his case was not helped by a recent 47th-place finish at LIV Golf Korea. So it was a fair assessment by one user when he replied, “McKibbon has not been playing well recently.” David Puig, on the other hand, is 7th in the individual points list, above the likes of Brooks Koepka(12) and Phil Mickelson(15). He has three top 6 finishes and has not finished below twenty at any of the events in the Saudi-backed tour. An impressive feat. But despite his form, one fan is finding his selection questionable. “Just handing out charity invites due to money, sad.” The user tweeted.

What do you think of the invites handed out to the two LIV golfers? Are they justified?