Most weeks this update is dedicated to the latest winner on the PGA TOUR and how his achievement pays forward. This is not one of those weeks.

See, when Cameron Young slammed the door on his six-stroke, wire-to-wire victory at the Cadillac Championship – the fifth Signature Event of 2026 – all he did was prevent someone else from collecting the array of exemptions that it yielded. He’s already exempt into all Signature Events and all majors this season, and his membership as a winner already extended the maximum five years through 2031 when he will turn 34 years of age.

With Young having been there and done that, the spotlight quickly can spin to the 35 golfers who now are exempt into the PGA Championship in two weeks.

The cohort kicked off with Mikael Lindberg’s breakthrough victory on the DP World Tour at the Turkish Airlines Open. With a solo third at last week’s Volvo China Open already on the board, the 33-year-old finished atop the Asian Swing ranking from which the top three at the conclusion of the five tournaments contributing qualified automatically for the second major of the year. It will mark the Swede’s debut in a major.

The winner last week in China, Bernd Wiesberger, placed second in the series. The 40-year-old from Austria has made nine appearances in the PGA Championship.

Jordan Gumberg snagged the final exemption when his win at the series-opening Hainan Classic stood up as the lone noteworthy performance. In his only previous start in a major, the 30-year-old from the United States missed the cut at the 2023 U.S. Open.

Later on Sunday as Young was making his third PGA TOUR title official, 32 PGA TOUR members gained entry into the field of 156 at Aronimink Golf Club via the year-long special money list, which is known as “PGA Championship Points.”

The highest-ranked who hadn’t yet been eligible for the PGA Championship is Maverick McNealy at 24th. Rico Hoey (69th) rounded out the group. The only golfer who crashed the top 70 at the Cadillac Championship was Andrew Putnam. With a five-way tie for 18th place, he jumped six spots to 65th.

The last two automatic exemptions for the PGA Championship are reserved for the winners of this week’s Truist Championship and ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic. Of the 72 entrants at Quail Hollow Club for the former, the following 10 are not exempt into the major: Chandler Blanchet, Tony Finau, Lucas Glover, Tom Hoge, Max Homa, Mackenzie Hughes, Sungjae Im, Kristoffer Reitan, Webb Simpson and Sudarshan Yellamaraju.

To help fill its field, the PGA of America will extend beyond the top 70 in PGA Championship Points, so Homa (73rd), Im (76th), Yellamaraju (80th) and Glover (82nd) are within that range with only Keith Mitchell (74th) and Max McGreevy (78th) also not exempt and inside that nearest bubble. Once the field is official, the same ranking will be used to establish the list of alternates in order of position.

For the second straight week, this page will be treated to a midweek update when the PGA of America announces all of the special exemptions for the PGA Championship. Per tradition, all golfers inside the top 100 of the latest Official World Golf Ranking are expected to be among them.

SE = All Signature Events
PGA = PGA Championship
US = U.S. Open
OPEN = The Open Championship

Recent additions

SE -- none
PGA -- Daniel Berger; Bud Cauley; Corey Conners; Pierceson Coody; Rickie Fowler; Max Greyserman; Emiliano Grillo; Jordan Gumberg; Harry Hall; Ryo Hisatsune; Rico Hoey; Nicolai Højgaard; Michael Kim; Chris Kirk; Jake Knapp; Min Woo Lee; Mikael Lindberg; David Lipsky; Hideki Matsuyama; Matt McCarty; Maverick McNealy; Alex Noren; Andrew Novak; Andrew Putnam; Patrick Rodgers; Matti Schmid; Adam Scott; Alex Smalley; Jordan Spieth; Sam Stevens; Nick Taylor; Sahith Theegala; Michael Thorbjornsen; Matt Wallace; Bernd Wiesberger
US -- none
OPEN -- none

NOTE: Golfers are omitted if they haven’t competed recently in majors for which they are eligible (e.g., The Open Championship = David Duval, Paul Lawrie).

REMAINING QUALIFYING CRITERIA

Criteria are listed in chronological order where possible. Best estimates are given but all are subject to change.

Signature Events

• Truist Championship (May 7-10)
• Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (June 4-7)
• Travelers Championship (June 25-28)

PGA Championship (PGA) at Aronimink Golf Club – May 14-17

• Winners of PGA TOUR events through the final week before the 2026 PGA Championship.
• Special exemptions per PGA of America. (This likely will include all golfers from top 100 of Official World Golf Ranking on May 4.)

U.S. Open (US) at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club – June 18-21

• Winners of multiple PGA TOUR events that award full FedExCup points allocation since the 2025 U.S. Open.
• Winner of the PGA Championship (May 17).
• Top five, not otherwise exempt, in the FedExCup at the conclusion of the PGA Championship (May 17).
• Top two, not otherwise exempt, in the 2025 Race to Dubai at the conclusion of the PGA Championship (May 17).
• Top player, not otherwise exempt, in the 2026 Race to Dubai (May 17).
• Leader, not otherwise exempt, in the Top 3 of the 2025 LIV Golf Individual Standings (May 18).
• Leader, not otherwise exempt, in the Top 3 of the 2026 LIV Golf Individual Standings (May 18).
• Top 60 of Official World Golf Ranking (May 18).
• Final qualifying at one site in England (May 18).
• Final qualifying at one site in Texas (May 18).
• Final qualifying at one site in Japan (May 25).
• Winner of the NCAA Division 1 individual championship, if still an amateur (June 1).
• Final qualifying at one site in Canada (June 8).
• Final qualifying at nine sites in the United States (June 8).
• Top 60 of Official World Golf Ranking (June 15).
• Special exemptions per the USGA.

The Open Championship (OPEN) at Royal Birkdale Golf Club – July 16-19

• Winner of the PGA Championship (May 17).
• Top player, not otherwise exempt, who makes the cut at the KOLON Korea Open (May 24).
• Top 50 of Official World Golf Ranking (May 25).
• Top 5 in the Federation Ranking (May 25).
• Top three, not otherwise exempt, who make the cut at the Mizuno Open (May 31).
• Top player, not otherwise exempt, who makes the cut at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday (June 7).
• Top three, not otherwise exempt, who make the cut at the RBC Canadian Open (June 14).
• Winner of the British Amateur, if still an amateur (June 20).
• Winner of the U.S. Open (June 21).
• Winner of the European Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (June 27).
• Leader in World Amateur Golf Ranking points accumulated at the St. Andrews Links Trophy (June 7), British Amateur (June 20) and European Amateur Championship, if still an amateur (June 27).
• Top player, not otherwise exempt, who make the cut at the Italian Open (June 28).
• Top five, not otherwise exempt, inside the top 20 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of the Travelers Championship (June 28).
• Leader, not otherwise exempt, in the LIV Golf Individual Standings at the conclusion of LIV Golf Louisiana (June 28).
• Final Qualifying. Top 4 at each of four sites (June 30).
• Top five, not otherwise exempt, inside the top 20 in the Race to Dubai at the conclusion of the BMW International Open (July 5).
• Top three, not otherwise exempt, who make the cut at the Genesis Scottish Open (July 12).
• Winner of the Last-Chance Qualifier (July 13).