American Talor Gooch has come out with some pearlers since moving to LIV two years ago, but his recent assertion that there would be an asterisk over Rory McIlroy‘s career grand slam if he were to win the Masters might just be top of the pile.
Since LIV continues to fall outside the parameters required for Official World Golf Ranking points, Gooch is among many of the breakaway Tour’s leading stars who’ve seen their world rankings plummet since jumping ship and since the major championships still use the OWGR as one of their qualification criteria, several players, Gooch included, have found themselves on the outside looking in during the game’s four biggest events.
And it looks as though he’ll once again be on the sidelines when the eyes of the golfing world are centered on Augusta, Georgia in the second week of April after Augusta National’s latest round of exemptions saw invitations handed out to Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune and fellow LIV player Joaquin Niemann, with the 2023 LIV Rankings season winner’s name conspicuous by its absence.
The 32-year-old says he wants the major championships to recognise the form of players in LIV competitions, not just when they tee it up on the DP World Tour or on other non-LIV events.
“It’s not surprising. I think the majors have kind of shown that they’re not getting on board with LIV. ‘Jaco’ (Niemann) went outside of LIV and played some great golf and they rewarded him for that,” he said to Australian Golf Digest.
“So hopefully the day will turn when the majors decide to start rewarding good play on LIV. Hopefully, that’ll be sooner than later.
“If Rory McIlroy goes and completes his grand slam (a win at all four majors) without some of the best players in the world, there’s just going to be an asterisk.
“It’s just the reality. I think everybody wins whenever the majors figure out a way to get the best players in the world there.”
Gooch, winner of three LIV events in 2023 and taking home more than $35 million in total annual LIV earnings, was one of 17 LIV players to compete in last year’s Masters, with the US Open being the only one of the four majors that he missed out on.
By qualifying for the 2022 PGA Tour Championship, he would’ve been exempt into the US Open but was no longer eligible to play in the season-ending event at East Lake having been suspended in the wake of his move to LIV, and thus, didn’t receive his US Open invitation. He could still have played in the US Open had he successfully navigated sectional qualifying but chose not to take part.
Considering that Gooch is the only top-50 ranked LIV player on the DataGolf rankings – a ranking system that rates players on performance relative to the field on all tours – who as yet will not be at Augusta National makes a mockery of his claims, with Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Cameron Smith Bubba Watson, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Tyrrell Hatton, Adrian Meronk, Charl Schwartzel, Niemann and defending champion Jon Rahm all set to take part.
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