Before some of the world’s best professional golfers converge upon the Home of Golf in Scotland, the PGA Tour heads to the Quad Cities for the John Deere Classic, and the DP World Tour will stage the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany.
LIV Golf’s Patrick Reed, currently the 101st-ranked player in the world, highlights this week’s field in Bavaria. Reed is eligible to play in DP World Tour events, unlike other LIV Golf players, because he has no outstanding fines or sanctions. The same applies to Thomas Pieters, who narrowly missed out on winning the Soudal Open in his native Belgium in May. Pieters finished one stroke behind 37-year-old Nacho Elvira of Spain.
Reed came up short last week, too. He hoped he could contend at the Italian Open, which awarded two spots into this year’s Open Championship field via the Open Qualifying Series, but he came up short. Tom McKibbin, who lost to Marcel Siem in a playoff, and American Sean Crocker earned those two invites to Royal Troon instead.
The 2018 Masters Champion is not currently listed among the entrants for next week’s Genesis Scottish Open, the final event of the Open Qualifying Series. That could change, however, should Reed win this week in Germany.
The R&A will invite the top three finishers—not otherwise exempt—to join The Open Championship at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick next week.
Other notable players in the BMW International Open field include Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, who left LIV Golf at the end of 2023, former U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, and Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald. PGA Tour Champions stars Bernhard Langer, Thomas Bjørn, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Alex Cejka will also compete this week, fresh off the U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club, where LIV Golf’s Richard Bland won his second consecutive senior major.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.