Getty Image / Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images
The Masters field is usually around 90 players and this year LIV Golf’s Talor Gooch will not be in the field. However, there will be a ton of LIV Golf representation at Augusta National with Bryson, Sergio, Tyrell Hatton, reigning champ Jon Rahm, Schwartzel, Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Joaquin Niemann, Cam Smith, Adrian Meronk, Patrick Reed, and Brooks Koepka all competing for a green jacket.
With approximately 15% of the field at The Masters being comprised of LIV Tour members, Talor Gooch’s comments about there needing to be an asterisk if Rory McIlroy wins the career grand slam is asinine.
His full quote in a recent interview with Australian Golf Digest 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.”
Flash forward to the golf world receiving those Masters comments and Talor Gooch got trolled pretty hard. Someone added asterisks to all of Talor Gooch’s wins on Wikipedia with a footnote that Rory McIlroy was not in the field for any of his wins:
Golf journalist Shane Bacon chimed in jokes about other wins:
Just realized we gotta put an asterisk next to the 1997 Masters win and the 2000 U.S. Open win because Talor Gooch wasn't in those fields either. Sorry, Tiger.
— Shane Bacon (@shanebacon) February 27, 2024
Tweeth Mitchell flipped the tables on Talor Gooch:
Talor Gooch makes a good point. I've been giving him credit for winning LIV last year but it turns out most of the top players weren't in those tournaments, so maybe he actually sucks.
— Tweeth Mitchell (@tweeth_mitchell) February 27, 2024
Gooch wasn’t there for this moment either:
Movie made without Talor Gooch pic.twitter.com/V2TxNK2FHA
— robmillertime (@robmillertime) February 28, 2024
Talor Gooch may or may not have considered this his wins on LIV Golf deserve an asterisk due to the closed field with no cut but he didn’t speak to that point in his original comments.
That kicked the door wide open for jokes like the ones above but it’s also a very valid point. Why are Talor Gooch’s wins noteworthy in such a limited field but Rory potentially beating LIV’s best and the top OWGR golfers on earth in need of an asterisk?
Ultimately, he’s salty that he did not receive an invitation to the Masters. As the 2022-23 LIV Golf individual champion he certainly felt he merited an invitation. But voicing that frustration through the media won’t do him any favors when next year’s invitations go out.