Getty Image / Michael Reaves
Former Oklahoma State standout Talor Gooch dominated LIV Golf in his first season with the 4Aces GC Team. He rattled off back-to-back wins in 2023, taking home the LIV Adelaide titled followed by LIV Singapore. Three months later he got his third win at the LIV Golf Andalucia Invitational in Spain and that was good enough to earn him an $18 million bonus for the 2022-23 LIV Golf individual title.
Despite all of that success, Talor Gooch did not receive an envelope from Augusta National inviting him to compete in at the 2024 Masters in April. Other LIV Golf members will be at Augusta including DJ, reigning champion Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, and Cam Smith.
Talor Gooch was incensed with Augusta National’s decision to not invite him. So much so that he spoke with Australian Golf Digest and preemptively suggested there should be an asterisk on a potential Rory McIlroy achievement due to a lack of LIV Golf representation at The Masters.
Gooch said:
“It’s not surprising. I think the majors have kind of shown that they’re not getting on board with LIV. ‘Jaco’ went outside of LIV and played some great golf and they rewarded him for that. So hopefully the day will turn when the majors decide to start rewarding good play on LIV. Hopefully that’ll be sooner than later.”
“In an ominous portent to Augusta National, Gooch said: “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.”
That is a ludicrous suggestion. Full stop.
While I 100% agree with everyone at LIV that OWGR needs to start awarding LIV Golf points, it’s not as if the field at Augusta National is weak. It’s the most-stacked field in golf.
Would it be a better field with Talor Gooch there? Probably. Does his comment that a Rory McIlroy win deserves an asterisk because he’s not there have any validity? Absolutely not.
There’s no way of telling if Talor Gooch would have seen the same success had he remained on the PGA Tour. The only way to know that is if he had stayed on the PGA Tour where he could have continued to gain OWGR points.
Everyone at LIV Golf knew they were signing up for a tour that didn’t receive OWGR points. Talor Gooch wants to be at the Masters, of course, every golfer does, but they all signed up for LIV hoping to sort out OWGR points. There was never a guarantee. And to suggest that if Rory wins there’s an asterisk when The Masters was played just a few years ago without spectators… That’s a truly asinine suggestion on Talor Gooch’s part.