LIV Golf Champion Talor Gooch Believes 2024 Major Winners Should Get Asterisk

Talor Gooch, the 2023 LIV Golf series champion, will not be at Augusta National in April.

For this reason, he believes that the winner of this year’s Masters — and the other three golf majors — should get an asterisk by their name.

Gooch told Australian Golf Digest:

“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.”

Golfers who made the jump to LIV without already having an exemption into the majors knew that their standing in the Official World Golf Ranking was going to drop, and it’s affecting the 2024 Masters field.

The “asterisk” statement has received some criticism on social media. 

Does Talor Gooch not realize there are other things he can do to get into the Masters field?

Someone should tell him there are actual tournaments he can enter and win to get into the field.

— Jake Weaver (@MidwestGolfJake) February 28, 2024

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by ZIRE GOLF (@ziregolf)

Last year, 18 LIV golfers qualified, but only 13 will take part this year. 

Those who won’t be participating after dropping out of the top 50 last year are Gooch, Harold Varner III, Thomas Pieters, Jason Kokrak, Louis Oosthuizen, Abraham Ancer, Mito Periera, and Kevin Na. Gooch went from inside the top 50 to No. 449 in a one-year span. 

Additions to this year’s LIV contingent at Augusta are defending champ Jon Rahm, Joaquin Niemann — who received a special invitation after winning the Australian Open in December — Tyrrell Hatton, and Adrian Meronk. The latter two are LIV newcomers who were in the OWGR’s top 50 at the end of 2023.

Cover Image via Golf