Rory McIlroy Takes The High Road In Response To Talor Gooch's Absurd Masters With An 'Asterisk' Comment
Rory McIlroy was handed the freest of free shots at Talor Gooch when the LIV golfer said that if he were to win the Masters this April - which would earn him the career Grand Slam - the victory would have an asterisk next to it given the absence of certain LIV players in the tournament field. Instead, McIlroy took the high road and gave Gooch the benefit of the doubt.
Earlier in the week, Gooch made headlines during an interview with Golf Digest Australia when he not only downplayed this year's Masters but essentially laid out the potential scenario of McIlroy winning the green jacket as a fraudulent one.
It wasn't a lighthearted statement, either, Gooch said it with authority, as if it were a matter of fact claiming that it would just be the reality.
"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," Gooch said.
The statement itself is absurd, but it's worth mentioning that Gooch made it from a place of frustration.
A total of 13 LIV players are in the field for the 2024 Masters with 12 of those 13 meeting the many requirements to qualify for the year's first major. Joaquin Niemann is the exception as he accepted a special invite from Augusta National this year.
(Photo by Oisin Keniry/Getty Images)
Gooch, a winner of three LIV events a season ago, understandably believes he should be in the tournament field despite a less than stellar run in the three majors he played in a year ago and nothing to show for himself outside of his wins on LIV.
McIlroy is a four-time major winner, a three-time FedEx Cup winner, 24-time PGA Tour winner and the most popular golfer walking the planet not named Tiger Woods. Gooch's best finish in a major is a T-14 in the 2022 Masters. He has one PGA Tour win, and has never been ranked inside the Top 30 in the world.
As I said earlier, McIlroy had a wide-open, free shot at Gooch, but decided to put his mature cap on and throw water on the fire instead of gasoline.
"I think to be fair to Talor. If you read the question and then the answer, it’s not as if he just came out with that. I feel like whoever did the interview sort of led him down that path to say that. So I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt there a little bit. He basically just agreed with what the interviewer asked," McIlroy said.
McIlroy didn't leave Gooch off the hook entirely.
After noting Niemann's recent Australian Open victory and impressive finishes in other global events as justification for his special invitation, McIlroy said "I don't know if the same can be said for Talor."
Gooch is a Top 50 player in the world and would strengthen the Masters field, without question, but with LIV not receiving Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points and him failing to secure top finishes in any of last year's major championships, he'll be stuck on his couch in April watching the event like the rest of us.
Gooch should direct his frustration towards those at LIV who lied to him and every other player on the circuit that they would begin receiving OWGR points, not question the integrity of Augusta National or bring McIlroy into the mix.