LIV Golf champion Talor Gooch will compete in his first major of the season at next week's PGA Championship, having been handed an invite by the PGA of America to compete at Valhalla.
Gooch failed to qualify for the four major events on the golfing schedule in 2024, despite his impressive form that came the year earlier. The Smash GC star won three times on the LIV circuit in Adelaide, Singapore and Andalucia before going on to be crowned the breakaway league's season-long champion.
When it came to the Official World Golf Ranking though, Gooch's efforts were in vein, having failed to earn any world ranking points due to the Saudi-backed series' lack of OWGR accreditation.
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Despite now being sat 644th in the rankings the American will now return to major action after confirming his PGA invite on social media. "Looking forward to Valhalla next week! Thank you for the invitation @PGA See y'all there." Whilst Gooch has announced his invite, the PGA of America are yet to confirm the addition. Mirror Sport have contacted the PGA for confirmation.
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Despite his lack of major entries, Gooch's name has not been far from the spotlight when it comes to golf's four major events. On numerous occasions, the breakaway league's champion has been vocal about and his and his fellow LIV stars' lack of opportunities at the major championships amid their fall in the world rankings. Most notably, Gooch raised eyebrows last month when claiming a win for Rory McIlroy at the Masters would have come with an 'asterisk' due to lack of LIV involvement.
“If Rory Mcllroy goes and completes his Grand Slam without some of the best players in the world, there's just going to be an asterisk,” Gooch told Australian Golf Digest. "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.”
Talor Gooch is the defending LIV Golf champion (Getty Images)Gooch failed to gain an invite to last month's Masters, unlike his fellow LIV star Joaquin Niemann whose impressive form in recent months was rewarded with a special exemption spot by Augusta National bosses. The LIV champion however admitted he was not surprised at being left out.
“It’s not surprising," he commented. "I think the majors have kind of shown that they’re not getting on board with LIV. [Niemann] went outside of LIV and played some great golf and they rewarded him for that. So hopefully the day will turn when the majors decide to start rewarding good play on LIV. Hopefully that’ll be sooner than later.”
And Gooch's efforts have been rewarded, with his name on the entry list at Valhalla next week. Gooch has played at the PGA Championship on four occasions during his career, missing the cut on two occasions including last year's event at Oak Hill. His best performance at the second major of the campaign came in 2021, where he finished tied for 20th.
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