Golf World Shuns Talor Gooch’s ‘Major’ Feat to Demand Justice for ‘Deserving’ LIV Players

Talor Gooch’s prayers finally came true! The golfer was invited to play at the upcoming major, the PGA Championship, making him the 10th professional from LIV Golf to make the field at the prestigious tournament. That leaves a total of 44 athletes in the breakaway league who are not part of it. Suffice it to say, the fans couldn’t hold back their complaints.

A tweet was shared by LIV Golf Updates on their X handle urging the PGA of America to invite Dean Burmester and Louis Oosthuizen as well for the event. They also went ahead to highlight the achievements of both of Talor Gooch’s fellow LIV Golf Pros while pointing out how they won five events in the past six months, including LIV Golf Miami as well as an event on the Southern African Sunshine Tour, the Alfred Dunhill Championship, with figures of 18-under.

Oosthuizen, who is placed at No. 32 on DataGolf and No. 46 on TUGR, aside from the 2023 Alfred Dunhill Championship, emerged victorious at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open as well with a score of 17-under. Moreover, he also finished T2 at two of the tournaments on the PIF-funded circuit, in Adelaide and Jeddah, while placing T8 in Miami.

Meanwhile, Burmester, currently at No. 30 on TUGR and No. 38 on DataGolf, won the 2023 Joburg Open by registering an 18-under 262 as well as the Investec South African Open Championship that came soon after with figures of 277 (-11). Adding to his professional win tally, he also clinched the title for the LIV Golf event in Miami with a score of 11-under 205. Well, the two not receiving an invitation like Talor Gooch did despite leaving their mark in the sport at the recent tournaments left many in the community discontent as they took to the tweet to express themselves.

Netizens rise up in support of Talor Gooch’s LIV Golf counterparts

While both players rank within the top 50 in TUGR and DataGolf rankings, they do not hold the same position in OWGR. While Oosthuizen is placed at No. 125 on the world rankings, his South African LIV Golf counterpart is placed five spots below, at No. 130. However, a fan couldn’t agree with such a ranking, as they took to comment, “Burmester easy top 20 in world right now,” while alluding to the latter. Many users came forward as well, dishing out similar responses urging the PGA of America to include them in the tournament: “Both top players should be there” and “Both are deserving of a spot in the field.”

But when it comes to Talor Gooch, who is currently at No. 644 on the OWGR, the followers didn’t have a similar opinion. The last tournament recognized by the world rankings that he played outside LIV Golf was during the 2023 Hong Kong Open in September. At the same time, he has only finished inside the top five a total of two times in the current season at the Greg Norman-led circuit, the best of which came in Las Vegas, where the American placed runner-up. Despite his three wins in 2023 at Adelaide, Singapore, and Andalucia, which earned him the title of Individual Champion, he has yet to achieve the same success this year. Thus, it’s no wonder that a few users came forward to take a jab at the golfer through their comments: “lol I’m waiting for whatever excuse you have when Taylor misses the cut….. he wasn’t given fair time to prepare something along those Lines,” and “I would take these guys over Gooch looking at recent performance.”

Thankfully, there is still time left for the major to invite the two athletes, as the organization will only reveal its full field on Tuesday. The fans can only wait and see whether their support was enough of a push for them to invite the two South African professionals and Talor Gooch’s LIV Golf counterparts to the major.