Talor Gooch claimed his maiden LIV Golf title in Australia last month and with it the first prize of $4m. However, according to the American, significantly less than that made it as far as his bank account.
Gooch was a guest on the Fore the People podcast after the event and explained that, even though his prize money was identical to others who’ve won LIV Golf events, Australia’s tax laws left his total lower than he’d expected – to the tune of almost half.
He said: "It was a little bit disheartening seeing 47-and-a-half percent because Australian taxes [do] not enter the account. It comes, you know, almost it sometimes it’s like 48 hours, but it’s usually 24 hours after the direct deposit hits. It was a big one this last week, but yeah, it sucked that 47-and-a-half percent was withheld for Australian taxes, unfortunately. I am by no means complaining, but the four [million dollars], once you cut it all up, let’s just say that it’s lot less than four.”
Despite taking that hefty $1.9m hit, Gooch still netted $2.1m for his win, with further earnings going towards growing the franchise of the team he plays for, Range Goats GC.
Meanwhile, as well as those sizeable earnings, his bank balance was swelled further the next week when he became the first player to claim back-to-back LIV Golf titles with victory at Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore following a playoff win over Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia.
That win also moved Gooch to the top of the individual standings for the season ahead of Peter Uihlein, while Range Goats GC are fourth in the team standings.
Gooch will be looking for a hat-trick of wins in the next LIV Golf event, in Oklahoma, which begins on 12 May before his attention turns to the second Major of the year, the PGA Championship, which he has confirmed he has received his invite to.
That also gives him the chance to qualify for June’s US Open despite revealing that the USGA had retroactively changed the exemption criteria, leaving his chances of qualifying for the Major at Los Angeles Country Club in doubt.
