Rory McIlroy Responds to Talor Gooch’s Controversial ‘Asterisk’ Comment

McIlroy gave the LIV golfer “the benefit of the doubt” when responding to the claim that if he won the Masters, it would need a disclaimer.

Rory McIlroy has decided to cut Talor Gooch some slack after the LIV player came out with a controversial statement about the legitimacy of major championship victories in 2024. 

Speaking from the Cognizant Classic at PGA National Resort, McIlroy addressed Gooch’s quotes, which first appeared in Australian Golf Digest. 

According to Gooch, if McIlroy were to win the Masters and capture the career grand slam this year at Augusta National, the victory would need an “asterisk” due the lack of LIV players included the field. 

Here’s the full Gooch quote: “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. 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.” 

McIlroy’s response to Gooch was measured, but still pointed out the irony in the LIV golfer’s remarks. 

McIlroy made sure to mention Joaquin Niemann, a peer of Gooch’s in the Saudi-backed league, who recently accepted an invitation to the Masters. Niemann went out of his way to play around world—outside of LIV Golf—and was notably successful in doing so. In December he won the Australian Open. Gooch did not make the same trips as the young Chilean, and in turn, remains without an invite to Augusta National. 

McIlroy’s full response was as follows:

“The asterisk, look, the Masters is an Invitational and they'll invite whoever they think warrants an invite. I think to be fair to Talor, if you read the entire—the question and then the answer, it's not as if he just came out with that.

“I feel like whoever did the interview led him down that path to say that, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt there a little bit. He just agreed with what the interviewer asked.

“At the same time, Joaquin Niemann got an invite and I played with him a few weeks ago in Dubai, and he went down to Australia and won. He was in Oman last week. He has been chasing his tail around the world to get this, play his way into August or show enough form to warrant an invite. I don't know if the same can be said for Talor,” McIlroy said. 

Rory McIlroy responds to Talor Gooch's 'asterisk' comment about The Masters. pic.twitter.com/CFKHsNJuVJ

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) February 28, 2024

The initial mention of an “asterisk” around a major championship victory sent the golf world into a frenzy on Tuesday, prompting Gooch to add to his original sentiment in various Twitter replies. 

“Burmy [Dean Burmester], Louis [Louis Oosthuizen], Mito [Pereira], HV [Harold Varner III], [Jason] Kokrak, Leish [Marc Leishman], Abe [Ancer] etc etc etc. Win a major w/out some of the best in the world, while no less of an accomplishment, it is noteworthy. Fans/ majors/players-who benefits from not adding a path to the majors through LIV?” Gooch said in a reply to Barstool’s Dan Rapaport. 

There are currently 12 LIV golfers in the 2024 Masters, seven of whom are past champions: Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Adrian Meronk, Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Cameron Smith, Bubba Watson, Joaquin Niemann.