Did Talor Gooch jump a spot in OWGR after consecutive LIV Golf wins? Latest rankings explored
Talor Gooch won two tournaments in a row last month but fell one spot in the Official World Golf Rankings. Victories do not benefit everyone in the same way. While Tony Finau won the 2023 Mexico Open on Sunday and jumped five points in OWGR, Gooch fell in the rankings despite winning two tournaments.
Since LIV Golf points are not added to the OWGR, winning does not benefit the Saudi-backed series players in improving the rankings.
Talor Gooch ranked 40th by the end of 2022. He has won two competitions this year and is currently ranked No. 60 in the world. He competed in all five LIV Golf events, finishing in the top 18 or better in all of them.
He also competed at The Masters and was invited to the PGA Championship, which is set to take place later this month.
LIV players' ranks have been steadily declining, with the majority of them falling out of the top 100.
"It was a little bit disheartening" - Talor Gooch loses almost half of his prize money
Talor Gooch won his first tournament at the LIV Golf Adelaide and moved on to the next event in Singapore, where he defeated Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia in a thrilling playoff.
He received $4 million after winning the Adelaide tournament. Unfortunately, because of the Australian taxes, 47 percent of his prize money from the Adelaide event was not credited to his account.
Talor Gooch expressed his disappointment on a Fore the People podcast about losing his money, saying:
"It was a little bit disheartening seeing 47 and a half percent because Australian taxes [do] not enter the account. It comes, you know, almost it sometimes it’s like 48 hours, but it’s usually 24 hours after it direct deposit hits.
"It was a big one this last week, but yeah, it sucked that 47 and a half percent was withheld for Australian taxes, unfortunately. I am by no means complaining, but the four [million dollars], once you cut it all up, let’s just say that it’s lot less than four.”
Despite losing his prize money and falling in the OWGR rankings, Talor Gooch is overjoyed to have received an invitation to the PGA Championship.
Anirban Lahiri was also invited to the PGA Championship. He came in second place at the LIV Golf Adelaide. The Indian golfer acknowledged his eagerness to play in major competitions during the Singapore event, saying:
"Regarding the PGA Championship, I am delighted they decided to give me a spot. This validates my very tough decision to go to the International Series Vietnam when all that was going on back home."
"I am thankful to the PGA of America that their decision was not swayed by other things going on in the world of golf. This is going to be special for me. My last Major was the PGA Championship last year. There can’t be a bigger reward in golf than playing in Majors," he added.