Gooch questions value of Masters victory after snub

smarting over not being invited to this April’s Masters Tournament, Talor Gooch said the idea of basing majors eligibility on the Official World Golf Ranking is antiquated.

Gooch, the LIV Golf individual champion in 2023, isn’t earning ranking points because of his league affiliation. He’s fallen to No. 449 in the rankings because the OWGR system doesn’t recognise LIV participation.

In an interview with Australian Golf Digest, posted yesterday, Gooch said not having the top players in the field only dilutes the end results.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Gooch, 32, gave up his PGA Tour membership in 2022 when he moved to the upstart, big-money LIV circuit. He had one career PGA Tour win and US$9.25 million (RM44m) in earnings – well eclipsed by the US$46.5 (RM221m) he won in his first two LIV seasons.

Despite winning three tournaments and the LIV title in 2023, Gooch didn’t receive one of three invitations to the Masters issued by officials at Augusta National.

“Hopefully the day will turn when the majors decide to start rewarding good play on LIV. Hopefully that’ll be sooner than later,” Gooch said.

England’s Lee Westwood, a former World No. 1 now playing in the LIV league, told Australian Golf Digest that it’s time for a change.

“I think the Official World Golf Ranking has got itself into a real hole. It’s got itself to a point where it’s obsolete, really, if I’m being completely honest.

“It’s managed to be so stubborn that it no longer ranks all the best golfers in the world fairly. And it’s gone so far that I don’t see how it can come back from the hole that it’s in because you can’t backdate them.” – Field Level Media