LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Talor Gooch was slightly shocked when he received his special invitation to this week’s 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. How did he react?
“Went to my wife and said, ‘Babe, we’re not going to Vegas next week, we’re going to Kentucky,’” Gooch told Golfweek with a chuckle after his Wednesday practice round.
After Gooch won for the first time on the PGA Tour at the 2021 RSM Classic, he took his talents to LIV Golf six months later and has found a comfortable home on the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit. Last season the 32-year-old won three events en route to an $18 million bonus as the season-long points leader.
When it comes to LIV Golf and major championships, Gooch’s name seems to always populate headlines. First, there was the shorts snafu at the 2022 Masters. Last year he was boxed out of the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club after the USGA altered its exemption criteria. Instead of fighting to try to earn his way again and stick it right back to the governing body, Gooch cried foul and decided not to play.
Earlier this year he made a wild claim that the Masters would have an asterisk due to the lack of LIV players (13) in the field. Earlier this month, Gooch announced in a sour tone that he’d be one of 11 players who wouldn’t be attempting to qualify for the U.S. Open or Open Championship. In contrast, 34 LIV players are currently slated to play a qualifier for the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 next month.
Of the 16 LIV players in this week’s field, seven were given special invites from the PGA of America. Four were inside the top 100 of the OWGR. Of the three who were not, Dean Burmester and David Puig both tried to earn their way in by playing on the DP World Tour and Asian Tour, respectively, and both won at least once. The outlier is Gooch, who has only played for LIV since he joined the Saudi-backed circuit.
“This is the first time that one of the majors have recognized a LIV Golf performance,” Gooch claimed on Wednesday. “(Joaquin Niemann) got a special invite to Augusta, but he was chasing after that. I wasn’t going and playing in Dubai and South Africa and Europe to try to get world ranking points and things like that. Great for those guys and I’m glad that play outside of LIV has gotten recognized, but this is the first time that LIV play has been recognized, which I hope is a step in the right direction.”
When asked why he didn’t follow in the footsteps of Niemann,…
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