Talor Gooch is seething that the Masters of Augusta did not invite him to the upcoming April edition. The individual winner of LIV Golf in 2023 has taken advantage of the situation to flaunt his verbal incontinence and thus express some opinions that, at the very least, are quite debatable. Beyond the fact that his words may generate some not very pleasant conversation with Brooks Koepka, his captain, Jon Rahm or Cameron Smith.
Gooch laments that the Majors do not directly offer places to the best players of LIV Golf, something that many fans may agree with. It is a claim that can be understood as logical. “Let’s hope the day comes when the Majors decide to start rewarding good play in LIV. Hopefully sooner rather than later. For now, they have shown that they do not agree with our circuit, so I am not surprised that they did not invite me. The invitation to Joaco (Niemann has been invited along with Olesen and Hisatsune) was for the great golf he did outside of LIV,” the American explained to Golf Digest Australia.
What does seem out of tune, in line with Gooch, who said that the atmosphere at a LIV tournament reminded him of the Ryder Cup (a competition he has never played, on the other hand), is that he questions the value of a victory in the upcoming Masters of Augusta for not being on the field, as well as other LIV players. “If Rory McIlroy completes his Grand Slam without some of the world’s best players, there will be an asterisk. It’s reality. I think everyone wins if the Majors find a way to bring together the world’s best players.”
By Gooch’s rule of three, an asterisk should also be put on Brooks Koepka’s victory at last year’s PGA, Jon Rahm’s at the Masters or Cameron Smith’s at the Open Championship, as there were also many absences of LIV players at those Majors. Neither Koepka, his captain in the Saudi league, nor Jon seem to have found Gooch’s conclusions very amusing. There may be some conversation this week in the run-up to the LIV of Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand, also in Golf Digest Australia, Lee Westwood has again harshly criticised the world ranking for not giving points to LIV Golf tournaments. “I think it has dug itself into a real hole. It has reached a point where it is obsolete, if I have to be honest. They are so stubborn that it no longer equitably ranks the world’s best golfers. And it has gone so far that I don’t see how it can come back from the hole it is in,” he said. And he added: “It’s no longer good for anything. It’s there to rank the world’s best golfers and it doesn’t. And if you’re a major championship and you’re looking to have the best players, you can’t now rely on the OWGR. You have to find another way to do it, otherwise you lose credibility as a major championship.”
In this sense, Marc Leishman believes that the ball is in the court of the Majors. “My opinion is that it does not depend on the Official World Golf Ranking. I think it has gone too far. I think it now depends on the Majors. They should have some kind of exemption criteria for the LIV Tour. The PGA Tour has its 30 best players (qualified for the Tour Championship) in the Majors. Maybe the LIV can get its top 12 at the end of the season, given the smaller fields and all that”. The difference is that in LIV only 54 players play, so it would be putting in the Majors just under a quarter of its participants, while in the PGA Tour, where more than 200 players compete throughout the year, the 30 represent between a sixth and a seventh part.
In any case, the Majors are approaching and, as expected, the complaints and claims from LIV Golf players to be able to enter them are returning, despite the fact that they knew what they were getting into when they chose the money. The debate is once again on the table.
