LIV star Talor Gooch receives special invite to play at the PGA Championship at Valhalla
Talor Gooch will make his first Major championship appearance in 2024 thanks to a special invitation to the PGA Championship. He did not get to play the Masters in Augusta National this year as he didn't receive an invite, but he will be in next week's PGA field after the PGA of America asked him to play.
Gooch announced on X:
"Looking forward to Valhalla next week! Thank you for the invitation PGA. See y'all there."
After not receiving an invitation to The Masters Tournament, Gooch said in the media that anyone's victory there would be asterisked since he and other LIV stars weren't invited.
The lack of qualifying options for LIV Golf players has been a topic of debate for some time now, and Gooch was at the forefront of that discussion. Now, he won't have to be as he can go to Valhalla and play the PGA Championship next weekend.
Talor Gooch in PGA Championship, will need special invite for next Major
Talor Gooch has officially been invited to the PGA Championship, but he did not receive this invite because of what he did to try and qualify. That is how Joaquin Niemann got into the Masters field, but Gooch has been 100% focused on LIV events.
Though he is to play next week, he's currently not in the field for the U.S. Open in June. When asked whether he'd follow his LIV teammates into qualifying events to try and get his name on the list, he said he would not.
Gooch and many others, Phil Mickelson included, firmly believe there should be more options for LIV Golf players to qualify for Majors through their own events, but that is currently not the case.
That is why these special invitations can be so impactful, otherwise, Gooch likely wouldn't be in the PGA Championship field at all. Since he raised concern about not making it to Augusta National in April, it is a positive development that the PGA invited him to Valhalla after all.