LIV Golfer Talor Gooch Secures PGA Championship Spot at Valhalla
Talor Gooch, a standout from the LIV Golf Tour, secures a place at the esteemed PGA Championship held at Valhalla Golf Club, signaling recognition for LIV Golf’s talent pool. Explore the development in the golfing landscape with Gooch’s unique journey to the major championship.
In a significant development in the ongoing PGA Tour-LIV Golf saga, LIV golfer Talor Gooch has been invited to compete in the upcoming PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. This marks the first time a LIV player has been awarded a spot in a major championship primarily due to his performance on the 54-hole, team-format LIV Golf tour.
Gooch, who joined the Saudi-backed LIV Tour in May 2022, announced the news via X (formerly Twitter), expressing his excitement to tee it up at the prestigious event. “Looking forward to Valhalla next week! Thank you for the invitation PGA. See y’all there,” Gooch wrote.
The PGA of America, the governing body of the PGA Championship, has also extended an invitation to LIV’s David Puig, the 22-year-old Arizona State product who recently won the Malaysian Open and qualified for the Open Championship.
Traditionally, the PGA Championship invites the Official World Golf Ranking’s top 100 players to compete. However, Gooch is currently ranked 644th, while Puig is 106th. This is due to the fact that LIV Golf tournaments are not recognized in the OWGR system, and Gooch has only competed in six OWGR-official events since joining LIV. Nonetheless, Gooch’s impressive performance on the LIV Tour, including three victories and the 2023 individual championship, has earned him this special invitation.
In contrast, fellow LIV golfer Joaquin Niemann received a special invitation to the Masters last month by actively competing in tournaments outside of LIV Golf to earn his place in the majors. Gooch, on the other hand, has not made the same effort, with the exception of appearances at the Hong Kong Open and the Saudi International.
Gooch’s invitation to the PGA Championship indicates that the tournament’s organizers are recognizing the caliber of play on the LIV Tour, despite the ongoing divide between the two golf circuits. The full PGA Championship field list is yet to be released, but it will be interesting to see if other LIV golfers, such as the defending champion Brooks Koepka, will also be granted invitations.
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