LIV Golf rebel Talor Gooch suddenly finds himself facing a fight to qualify for the US Open after thinking he'd already booked his spot at the Los Angeles Country Club.
Gooch, 31, was one of the original defectors to the Saudi-backed venture, playing in the inaugural event at The Centurion Club last June. And he's just come off the back of the most lucrative month of his career, winning both the LIV Adelaide and Singapore events while raking in prize money of more than £6.4 million in the process.
This coming Thursday, he'll tee off at the Oak Hill Country Club for the US PGA, with the American still seeking a first major championship win. But he now has additional motivation to produce a strong showing, after the United States Golf Association (USGA) altered its policy towards the 2022 Tour Championship.
The authority added a clause to event rules that meant that even if players had qualified for the FedEx Cup finale, as Gooch was, they could not participate if they were deemed ineligible by the PGA Tour. With Gooch serving an ongoing suspension by the status quo for his big-money move to LIV, he was barred from playing in Atlanta.
Because Gooch has never won the US Open, he will only be able to enter the tournament by being in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). His recent LIV heroics won't aide his bid, with the rebel tour not yet granted ranking points.
Gooch has arrived in New York this week ranked No 63 in the world, meaning he dare not miss the cut in Oak Hill. On the contrary, a maiden Major win will see him rise more than 40 places, and also a guarantee him a return in 2024.
As it stands, the number of LIV players in Major tournaments is only set to reduce, given Greg Norman's ongoing battle to have his events recognised by the OGWR. That's despite Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickleson both being tied for second place at the US Masters, behind eventual winner Jon Rahm.
And the most high-profile defector, reigning Open champion Cam Smith, this month slammed the notion that LIV tournaments left players ill-prepared for the biggest events: "I’m really not sure what people were expecting to be totally honest with you," he told Bunkered. "It was almost as if they thought that we’d joined this new league and forgot how to play golf, which is a bit ridiculous really.
“So, yeah, I mean it was great to see some of the guys doing so well at The Masters but, honestly, it wasn’t that big a surprise to me. I see how good everybody is every week. They’re world-class golfers, proven major champions in many instances, and they all still work their a**** off."
