LIV Golf’s Jon Rahm makes Talor Gooch plea amid controversial ‘major’ complaint

Taylor Gooch caught the attention of the golf world with his controversial comments about Augusta National.

However, these comments stemmed from his disdain for the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).

“if [Rory] “If McIlroy completes a Grand Slam without the best player in the world, he just gets an asterisk,” Gooch said.

“That’s just the reality. If the majors find a way to get the best players in the world, I think everyone wins.”

Gooch has been playing well since joining LIV Golf at its inception in 2022 and is currently ranked 476th in OWGR.

But we all know he’s a better player than that, and Jon Rahm agrees.

“I think there’s one player who played really well all last season who’s been left out a little bit. I’m not saying everyone has to, but Taylor Gooch could get an invitation to the majors. I think gender should be considered,” Rahm said ahead of this week’s LIV golf event in Hong Kong.

“He was the best player here last year. If that doesn’t show good golf and being worthy of a major, I don’t know what does.”

Unlike Joaquin Niemann, perhaps the hottest golfer on the planet right now, Gooch hasn’t received a special invitation from the Masters. He has also not had extensions for the U.S. Open, PGA Championship or British Open.

Still, Rahm sees some progress being made in four key areas related to Neiman’s cause.

“Isn’t that what we all want to see? Yeah, that’s very encouraging,” Rahm added.

“I’m very happy to see you [Niemann] Receive an invitation. To be fair, he’s expressed interest in a number of ways to qualify and he’s been playing the way he should, so I think he deserves an invitation.”

Niemann won the Australian Open in December, finished fourth at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January and third at the Asian Tour Oman in February. Additionally, in 2024 he has his two wins at LIV Golf.

“I agree with everything [Rahm] ” said Bryson DeChambeau, who spoke with Rahm during a session with the media in Hong Kong.

Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images

“There needs to be a clear path through LIV in some way. The most important thing is the fans, and engaging them will improve the golf experience around the world and even in the United States. Whatever the answer is. , we need to get to that pretty quickly because we don’t want to go down the path we’re currently on.”

Many LIV golfers are disputing the OWGR, primarily because the OWGR board denied world ranking points to the Saudi-backed circuit.

But so do members of the PGA Tour, and many top players at this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational agreed with the LIV golfer’s sentiments.

“I think there are very specific criteria for world rankings. I don’t know if broken is the right word, but there has been so much uncertainty and change in the last few years that I would like to update the situation. It’s inevitable that we need to ‘or change,”’ Patrick Cantlay said Tuesday.

Something needs to change.

Perhaps it could be reflected by using data golf As a real ranking. Matt Fitzpatrick, like many other golf fans, experts and players, admitted to relying on this system. It proved worthwhile.

Niemann is ranked 12th in the world in data golf, and the Chilean is ranked 76th in OWGR.

“For example, if there are people in this world who don’t think about anything, [Niemann] “I don’t know what kind of game I’m watching, whether I deserve to be in the top 10 or whether I’m a top player in the world or not,” Rahm added.

“I understand that. I think anyone who watches golf knows who the best players in the world are. [OWGR] Now that is fully reflected. ”

Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.