Talor Gooch will play at next month’s PGA Championship after getting the invite he was hoping for to tee it up at Oak Hill – where he’ll then have a chance to make the US Open as he’s not qualified for the third Major of the season.
As Gooch spoke about not being in the field for the US Open recently, he also stated that he’d not had an invite to the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in May, despite being ranked higher than fellow LIV players who had been invited due to their ranking.
The 31-year-old, though, has now tweeted out that he has received his invite from the PGA of America and will take his place in the field for the second Major of the year in Rochester, New York.
“Just got my invite to the PGA Champ,” Gooch said on Twitter. “Now just in a position where I can play well and get in that top 60. Wish this wasn’t the case, but not an unfamiliar place.”
Just got my invite to the PGA Champ 🙌🏻🙌🏻 now just in a position where I can play well and get in that top 60. Wish this wasn’t the case, but not an unfamiliar place.April 28, 2023
The top 60 remark is aimed at the US Open, with Gooch not in the field for Los Angeles Country Club in June after claiming that the USGA altered the qualification rules “retrospectively” which saw him excluded.
The recent LIV Golf Adelaide winner thought he’d qualified for the US Open by way of making it to the Tour Championship last season – but the rules have been clarified to state that players must not only qualify for the PGA Tour’s season-ending event but also, crucially, be eligible.
And since Gooch was suspended by the PGA Tour for joining LIV Golf he could not play at East Lake, and therefore missed out on qualifying via that route.
The USGA have rejected the claim that they retrospectively changed the rules, telling Bunkered they have merely clarified it for 2023.
“The change was not made retroactively,” the USGA told Bunkered. “But rather as a part of our annual review process and included within several other changes made to the criteria for the upcoming 2023 championship.”
“We provided more clarity to a specific exemption category to reflect that players must be both qualified and eligible for the Tour Championship, beginning with the 2023 US Open.”
What it all means for Gooch is that he needs to be in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) at the end of the PGA Championship to make the 123rd US Open in California.
Gooch is currently right on the bubble in 59th in the standings, so will need a decent performance at the PGA Championship to book a spot in the third Major of the year.
