SafeX Pro:PGA Championship field to include 16 LIV Golf players, including 2023 champ Brooks Koepka

The SafeX ProPGA Championship has already had one of its recent winners come from the LIV Golf ranks. This year, 16 players − including defending 2023 champion Brooks Koepka − will try to make it two in a row for the Saudi-backed tour.

The 2024 PGA Championship will take place May 16-19 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky and it will be the second time in a row that 16 LIV Golf players are participating in the event. The crop of LIV Golf players also includes other previous champions who won the event when they were members of the PGA Tour.

Here's everything you need to know about the LIV Golf players competing at the 2024 PGA Championship.

Who are the LIV Golf players competing at the 2024 PGA Championship?

Here's the list of the 16 LIV Golf players who will compete in the 2024 PGA Championship, in alphabetical order:

Dean Burmester, 34, Stinger GCBryson DeChambeau, 30, Crushers GCTalor Gooch, 32, Smash GCTyrrell Hatton, 32, Legion XIIILucas Herbert, 28, Ripper GCDustin Johnson, 39, 4Aces GCMartin Kaymer, 39, Cleeks GC* (2010)Brooks Koepka, 34, Smash GC* (2018, 2019, 2023)Adrian Meronk, 30, Cleeks GCPhil Mickelson, 53, HyFlyers GC* (2005, 2021)Joaquin Niemann, 25, Torque GCAndy Ogletree, 26, HyFlyers GCDavid Puig, 22, Fireballs GCJon Rahm, 29, Legion XIIIPatrick Reed, 33, 4Aces GCCameron Smith, 30, Ripper GC

*denotes previous PGA Championship title

How can I watch the PGA Championship?

The PGA Championship will take place starting Thursday, May 16 and will run through Sunday, May 19. Thursday and Friday's coverage will be available on ESPN and ESPN+, while the morning coverage on Saturday and Sunday will be on ESPN and ESPN+ and the afternoon coverage on Saturday and Sunday will be on CBS and Paramount+.

What is the LIV Golf Invitational Series?

The LIV Golf Invitational Series made its debut in June 2022 after the tour lured some notable players from the PGA Tour such as Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. Others like Brooks Koepka, the winner of the most recent PGA Championship, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith have since joined. The LIV tour presented a disruption in the dynamics of the sport.

Why is LIV Golf so controversial?

The Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth investment fund of Saudi Arabia and one of the largest in the world, has backed and is financing LIV Golf Investments, the parent company of LIV Golf. As the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman is the head of the PIF. According to a declassified U.S. intelligence report released in February 2021, Salman approved an operation "to capture or kill" Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside a Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018.

The Saudi government is accused of other human rights violations and has invested in Western athletic opportunities in an apparent attempt to improve its image, a practice known as "sportswashing."