Talor Gooch is taking out his bitterness about being excluded from the 2024 Masters on Rory McIlroy.
Gooch, who is among a group of LIV Golf stars whose paths to major qualification have been stifled by LIV players not getting Official World Golf Ranking points, says if McIlroy finally completes a career grand slam by winning the elusive green jacket, it won’t be as meaningful because of the limited field at Augusta.
“If Rory McIlroy goes and completes his grand slam without some of the best players in the world, there’s just going to be an asterisk. It’s just the reality,” Gooch told Australian Golf Digest. “I think everybody wins whenever the majors figure out a way to get the best players in the world there.”
LIV Golf has been waging a public battle ever since the decision was made that players on the Saudi-backed breakaway tour would no longer get OWGR points, crushing the chances at qualifying for majors for golfers who haven’t qualified through other means, like winning previous majors.
Gooch, 32, bolted for LIV Golf two years ago and in 2023 won the season individual title after capturing three tournament victories, garnering an $18 million bonus.
He had his best finish at a major at the 2022 Masters, when he was tied for 14th.
Gooch was criticized in July 2022 after his team with Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez won a LIV Golf tournament and compared the atmosphere to that of the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.
McIlroy was the face of the PGA Tour’s resistance to LIV Golf until the Tour decided over the summer it was going to seek a partnership with the Saudi Public Investment Fund that backs LIV Golf.
The 34-year-old, who hasn’t won a major since 2014 and finished second at the 2022 Masters before missing the cut last year, at one point described himself as a “sacrificial lamb.”
He has recently softened his stance on LIV Golf, calling for the best tournament fields possible.
That led to his former agent, Chubby Chandler, to hypothesize that McIlroy could end up making a shocking move to LIV Golf for $950 million.
McIlroy won the latest edition of “The Match” on Monday in West Palm Beach, defeating Max Homa, Lexi Thompson and Rose Zhang in a 12-hole skins game.