The 2018 PGA Championship field offers a variety of ways into the PGA of America's major championship, ranging from winning a major or on the PGA Tour, to earning a special invitation based on world ranking or money earned since the last PGA Championship.
A golfer has to be one of the best on the planet to qualify for the PGA Championship. They can get a PGA Championship exemption if they meet one of these worldwide criteria to get an invitation.
PGA Championship qualifying and exemption categories
- All former PGA Champions: Rich Beem, Keegan Bradley, John Daly, Jason Day, Jason Dufner, Pádraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer (3,10), Davis Love III, Rory McIlroy, Shaun Micheel, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Justin Thomas, Jimmy Walker, Tiger Woods, Y.E. Yang
- Last five Masters Champions: Sergio García, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, Danny Willett
- Last five U.S. Open Champions: Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka
- Last five Open Champions: Zach Johnson, Francesco Molinari, Henrik Stenson
- Last three Players Champions: Si Woo Kim, Webb Simpson
- 2018 Senior PGA Champion: Paul Broadhurst
- Top 15 and ties from the 2017 PGA Championship: Scott Brown, Paul Casey, Rickie Fowler, James Hahn, Brian Harman, Kevin Kisner, Matt Kuchar, Marc Leishman, Hideki Matsuyama, Ryan Moore, Louis Oosthuizen, Jordan Smith, Chris Stroud
- The 20 low scorers in the 2018 PGA Professional Championship: Danny Balin, Rich Berberian Jr., Michael Block, Matt Borchert, Craig Bowden, Matt Dobyns, Jaysen Hansen, Craig Hocknull, Marty Jertson, Zach J. Johnson, Ben Kern, Johan Kok, Sean McCarty, David Muttitt, Jason Schmuhl, Brian Smock, Bob Sowards, Omar Uresti, Ryan Vermeer, Shawn Warren
- Top 70 leaders in official money standings from the 2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and Barracuda Championship through the 2018 RBC Canadian Open: An Byeong-hun, Ryan Armour, Daniel Berger, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Patrick Cantlay, Kevin Chappell, Austin Cook, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood, Brian Gay, Emiliano Grillo, Chesson Hadley, Adam Hadwin, Russell Henley, Charley Hoffman, J. B. Holmes, Billy Horschel, Beau Hossler, Charles Howell III, Kim Meen-whee, Patton Kizzire, Andrew Landry, Luke List, Kevin Na, Alex Norén, Pat Perez, Scott Piercy, Ted Potter Jr., Ian Poulter, Jon Rahm, Chez Reavie, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Ollie Schniederjans, Charl Schwartzel, Cameron Smith, J. J. Spaun, Kyle Stanley, Brendan Steele, Jhonattan Vegas, Aaron Wise, Gary Woodland
- Members of the United States and Europe 2016 Ryder Cup teams: Matthew Fitzpatrick, Thomas Pieters, Brandt Snedeker, Andy Sullivan, Lee Westwood, Chris Wood
- Winners of tournaments co-sponsored or approved by the PGA Tour since the 2017 PGA Championship: Brice Garnett, Michael Kim, Satoshi Kodaira, Troy Merritt
- Special invitations: Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Alexander Björk, Thomas Bjørn, Jorge Campillo, Stewart Cink, Paul Dunne, Ross Fisher, Ryan Fox, Dylan Frittelli, Jim Furyk, Branden Grace, Bill Haas, Seungsu Han, Justin Harding, Tyrrell Hatton, Yuta Ikeda, Im Sung-jae, Shugo Imahira, Russell Knox, Mikko Korhonen, Anirban Lahiri, Alexander Lévy, Li Haotong, Michael Lorenzo-Vera, Jamie Lovemark, Shane Lowry, Yūsaku Miyazato, Joaquín Niemann, Thorbjørn Olesen, Adrián Otaegui, Eddie Pepperell, Adam Scott, Shubhankar Sharma, Brandon Stone, Julian Suri, Ryuko Tokimatsu, Peter Uihlein, Matt Wallace, Nick Watney
- Players below 70th place in official money standings, to fill the field: TBA
