Getty Image / Douglas P. DeFelice
Talor Gooch won three LIV Golf Invitationals in the 2022-23 season and took home the tour’s individual title which earned him an $18 million bonus and with all of those winnings and earnings Talor has been waiting on an invitation from Augusta National GC to the 2024 Masters, an invitation that never came.
In a much-discussed interview this week with Australian Golf Digest, Talor Gooch suggested that should Rory McIlroy win The Masters this year there should be an asterisk on his green jacket because the best golfers in the world wouldn’t be there (according to him). His full comment was:
If Rory McIlroy goes and completes his [Career] Grand Slam 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.
After the golf world spent a solid 24 hours trolling Talor Gooch over his comments Rory McIlroy has broken his silence with a truly devastating comment on the matter. Speaking ahead of the Cognizant Classic, Rory McIlroy was asked about it by members of the media. Here is Rory’s video response along with teh full quote below:
Rory's response to Talor Gooch. pic.twitter.com/HG7S56v3gk
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) February 28, 2024
Rory McIlroy: “Oh, and the asterisk? The Masters is an invitational and they’ll invite whoever they think warrants an invite.”
“And I think, to be fair to Talor, I think if you read the entire question and then the answer it’s not as if he just came out with that. I feel like whoever did the interview sort of led him down that path to say that. So I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt there a little bit.”
“He basically just agreed with what the interviewer asked. But at the same time, Joaquin Niemann got an invite and I played with Joaquin in Dubai a few weeks ago and he went down to Australia and won. He was in Oman last week. You know, he’s been chasing his tail around the world to try to get (the Masters invitation)… (to) either play his way into Augusta or show enough form to warrant an invite and I don’t know if the same can be said for Talor (Gooch).”
Rory McIlroy is in Palm Beach this week at the Cognizant Classic ahead of the Arnold Palmer next week followed by The PLAYERS. He is sure to be asked about Talor Gooch‘s ‘asterisk’ comment again but at this point, what is there left to say?
McIlroy is both giving Talor Gooch the benefit of the doubt that he was led into that answer but calling him out of ra lack of hustle. Meanwhile, Rory is ranked #2 in the world and not facing any of the complications golfers who don’t receive OWGR points are currently facing.
And I don’t mean that to sound so harsh because I do believe OWGR should award points to LIV Golf but Talor’s point of view on this subject is asinine as LIV events are closed to the best golfers in the world and by his own logic, Gooch’s wins deserve an asterisk.