Talor Gooch, between winning the LIV Golf event in Adelaide and fighting for the lead in the one underway in Singapore, found the time to open a lawsuit with the USGA. The reason for the dispute is the qualification of the US player for the US
open. Gooch during an interview with The 73rd hole podcast, criticized the USGA, stating that the US golf governing body would retroactively change the qualification criteria.
Talor Gooch, statements
“The USGA decided to go in a different direction and retroactively changed the policy” Gooch was convinced that he had earned the exemption to play at the Los Angeles Country Club thanks to his 29th place in the FedEx ranking last season, which would have also guarded anteed his participation in the Tour Championship, if the suspension by the PGA Tour had not occurred , following the player’s decision to sign with LIV Golf.
In fact, Gooch took part in the opening tournament of the LIV Invitational Series at the Centurion Club in May last year. The placement of the American player in the FedEx ranking guarantees participation in the Majors for the following season.
Gooch has regularly taken part in the Masters Tournament and has already received confirmation from the R&A for participation in the Open Championship. He still doesn’t have PGA of America confirmation of his invitation to the PAG Championship, but Gooch is confident he’ll be on the tee at Oak Hill.
On the other hand, he is sure that to participate in the US Open he will necessarily have to go through the regional qualifications, like any other player. And this Talor Gooch finds “obviously disappointing” and “frustrating”.
For his part, the USGA with a note was keen to clarify his point of view. While not denying that he changed the qualification criterion, he adamantly denied that he did so “retroactively”. A spokesperson for the organization said: “The USGA annually reviews the exemption criteria for all leagues, and so we proceeded for the US
Open” “In particular, we have provided greater clarity regarding a specific exemption category (the 11, NDR), to reflect the fact that players must be both qualified and have the requisites to qualify for the Tour Championship, starting from the US
Open this year” “The change is not retroactive, but is part of our annual review process, and is included in a series of changes that affect all our leagues.”