Talor Gooch shares his thoughts on how the Masters was treated by LIV Golf.
Talor Gooch made an analogy between LIV Golf and a Ryder Cup atmosphere, although he has never participated in the latter. Moreover, it is unclear why he claimed responsibility for changes to the PGA Tour. Hence, take his following statements with utmost skepticism.
Joaquin Niemann was one of three recipients of a special invitation to compete in this year’s Augusta National tournament. The press release highlighting his recent accomplishments emphasized his win at the Australian Open and top-five finishes at DP World Tour events but did not mention his performance in the LIV Golf circuit. It comes as no surprise that no other members from the Saudi-backed league received an invite considering ongoing concerns regarding its competitiveness, coupled with Augusta National being named in an antitrust lawsuit filed by 11 LIV golfers back in August 2022.
With LIV Golf still lacking Official World Golf Ranking accreditation, several players without major titles on their record are seeing their opportunities to compete in the big championships slip away. This includes Gooch, who was ranked No. 449 on the OWGR going into this week’s events. In a recent interview with Australian Golf Digest, he expressed disappointment about not being included in the Masters field for 2024 but wasn’t surprised by his exclusion from consideration. Gooch acknowledged that it seems as though many of the majors have yet to fully embrace LIV golf and its talent pool; however, he remained hopeful that they would eventually open up more avenues for recognition based solely upon good play within this circuit rather than outside of it – citing “Jaco” as an example where those rewards were given thusly erring his belief towards one day turning around sooner or later
Initially, the comment may seem harmless; however, Gooch’s statements regarding the matter did not culminate at that point.
According to Gooch, there will be an asterisk beside Rory McIlroy’s grand slam achievement if some of the top players don’t compete. He believes that including the best players in major events is beneficial for everyone involved.
The relevance of the OWGR in golf’s civil war is now being questioned, and some suggest that a future Masters win could be tainted because Talor Gooch was not in the field. However, this seems far-fetched given his lackluster record compared to other top players. DataGolf’s Top 50 rankings show only six players currently without Masters invites: Ben An (who will likely qualify through the OWGR), Beau Hossler, Christian Bezuidenhout, Rasmus Hojgaard and Stephen Jaeger. While skilled athletes in their own right, it appears unlikely that their absence would diminish history or warrant an asterisk by any means – as evidenced by humorous commentary from DataGolf on Gooch’s exclusion from contention for Masters glory!
It should be emphasized that Gooch has the option to try and qualify for both the U.S. Open and Open Championship, despite opting out of qualifying in last year’s U.S. Open due to not receiving a special exemption into the tournament. Regarding his chances at future Masters tournaments, Niemann demonstrated that golfers from LIV are allowed at Augusta National; however, invitations must be earned rather than given freely.
