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Golf Monthly
Golf Monthly
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Elliott Heath

9 Big Names Missing The 2026 Truist Championship

Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry and a yellow Truist Championship flag.

It's another huge week on the PGA Tour with seven of the world's top ten teeing it up in Charlotte, North Carolina for the Truist Championship.

The Truist marks the fifth $20m Signature Event of the season, with a huge $3.6m going to the winner and plenty of world ranking and FedEx Cup points on offer.

It also acts as a warm-up for the PGA Championship, the year's second Major, which gets underway next week at Aronimink Country Club.

Rory McIlroy headlines the field at Quail Hollow, which has been coined as 'Rory McIlroy Country Club' after four career victories there for the Northern Irishman. There are plenty of star names in the field, but which big names are missing?

Let's take a look...

Scottie Scheffler

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The World No.1 is opting to take a week off, which comes as no surprise.

Scheffler, who has finished 2nd in his last three tournaments, likes to take the week off before a Major, and he has actually never played in this event.

He has twice competed at Quail Hollow, in the 2022 Presidents Cup and 2025 PGA Championship - which he won.

He is tournament favorite next week at Aronimink, where he will attempt to defend his Wanamaker Trophy.

Brooks Koepka

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Brooks Koepka still has yet to make his Signature Event debut, despite coming close over the past few weeks.

He was first alternate for both the RBC Heritage and Cadillac Championship but didn't get the call-up for either. Instead, he is getting ready for the PGA Championship via the Myrtle Beach Classic this week - an opposite field event with a $4m purse.

The former World No.1 is ineligible for sponsor's invites into the Signature Events, one of many punishments he agreed to when rejoining the tour via the Returning Member Program after leaving LIV Golf.

He has played eight times on the PGA Tour this year, with best finishes of T9 at the Cognizant Classic and T12 at The Masters.

Collin Morikawa

(Image credit: Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images)

Collin Morikawa was a late withdrawal from the Truist Championship as he likely continues to rest his back following an injury at The Players Championship.

The two-time Major winner tweaked his back on his second hole at TPC Sawgrass and took three weeks off before an impressive T7-T4 run at The Masters and RBC Heritage.

He finished well down the pack last week at Doral, where he was T62nd, and likely feels it's best to take a week off before the PGA Championship.

Russell Henley

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Russell Henley is another big name not in the field this week.

The World No.8 finished T49th last week at Doral and perhaps feels he has a few bits to tidy up before Aronimink.

Henley has a very mixed bag of results at Quail Hollow throughout his career, with a T10 in 2024 the only finish that really stands out.

Shane Lowry

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Lowry has played 12 times already this year, which is three more events than Scheffler and five more than McIlroy.

He is due a break and will likely be at home in Florida working hard to sharpen up his game for next week.

The Irishman has four top-12 finishes in his last seven PGA Championship starts, so he is certainly one to keep an eye out for next week.

Wyndham Clark

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Wyndham Clark won here in 2023 prior to his US Open glory, so it's a surprise he hasn't been given a sponsor's exemption.

The Coloradan has not qualified for the Signature Events in 2026 following his 56th-place finish in the FedEx Cup standings last year, and he hasn't managed to make his way into the field this week.

Clark has not played since the RBC Heritage, so he may well be nursing an injury currently. He has dropped down to 70th in the world.

Marco Penge

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Big-hitting Marco Penge is another who perhaps surprisingly hasn't been given a sponsor's invite this week.

The talented Englishman has played in three Signature Events so far this year and ranks 39th in the world. He recorded his best ever Major finish at Quail Hollow last year in his T28 at the PGA Championship.

Penge is one of the headline names at the Myrtle Beach Classic.

Nicolai Hojgaard

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Nicolai Hojgaard is another notable who hasn't qualified for Quail Hollow, with the World No.37 the highest-ranked player in this week's Myrtle Beach Classic.

The Dane is playing great golf this year, with a 2nd-place at the Valero Texas Open and a T3 at the WM Phoenix Open. He was also T22nd at Doral last week in the Cadillac Championship.

He certainly seems a little unlucky not to have made it into the Truist Championship.

Aaron Rai

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Aaron Rai is ranked 42nd in the world but he is another who has been unable to make it into the field this week.

In fact, Rai has only managed to get in one Signature Event this entire year.

The Englishman is another of the headline names in Myrtle Beach, which is his first start since Augusta.

Other notables missing the Truist Championship

(World ranking)

  • Kristoffer Reitan (48)
  • Michael Brennan (51)
  • Sami Valimaki (57)
  • Rasmus Hojgaard (61)
  • Michael Thorbjornsen (62)
  • Jordan Smith (67)
  • Max Greyserman (68)
  • John Keefer (71)
  • Rasmus Neergaard Petersen 76
  • Max McGreevy (78)
  • Haotong Li (79)
  • Rico Hoey (81)
  • Garrick Higgo (82)
  • Andrew Putnam (84)
  • John Parry (85)
  • Matti Schmid (93)
  • Christiaan Bezuidenhout (95)
  • Daniel Brown (96)
  • Chris Kirk (97)
  • Stephan Jaeger (98)
  • Adrien Saddier (99)
  • Keith Mitchell (104)
  • Billy Horschel (107)
  • Tom Kim (145)
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