Rory McIlroy completing a career grand slam would come with an asterisk, according to LIV golfer Talor Gooch.
LIV's representation at the Masters this year is set to be limited, with Gooch among those who has not received an invitation.
The 32-year-old is currently ranked 449th in the world, which leaves him way outside the qualifying criteria, despite the fact that he was the 2023 LIV Golf League individual champion.
Gooch has been speaking about the absence of some LIV stars from this year's Masters, saying that if McIlroy wins the competition and finally completes his career grand slam, the achievement will have been sullied somewhat.
Oh boy https://t.co/CUwI8hgsjA pic.twitter.com/yz9i90rbSt
— Shane Bacon (@shanebacon) February 27, 2024
Talor Gooch: "Rory McIlroy grand slam comes with asterisk"
"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," Gooch is quoted as saying in 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."
This isn't the first time that Gooch has targeted an Irish golfer, after he posted an Instagram Story aimed at Shane Lowry in 2019, which referenced Lowry's comments about winning the BMW PGA Championship for "the good guys." Gooch then posted a video of himself and other LIV golfers, with the caption "another one for the good guys."
Lee Westwood is another player who has been critical of the PGA not recognising the LIV rankings.
"And if you are a major championship and you’re looking for the best fields, you now can’t go off the OWGR to formulate your fields and use them for exemptions," said the Englishman in the same Australian Golf Digest article.
"You’ve got to find another way of doing it, otherwise you lose credibility as a major championship, don’t you?”
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