LIV Golf rebel Talor Gooch is hoping this week’s UK Open in St Andrews won’t be the last major tournament for members of the Saudi-backed breakaway franchise as he calls for an end to “concussion” between rival rounds.
Speaking after climbing to the top of the leaderboard with 69 points in the second round with seven missing points for the mid-course championship, the 30-year-old American admitted that the golf course “would be great to be on the course”. It will be the last major scene.
However, he hopes golf management will not prevent players leaving the PGA Tour or DP World Tour from joining the LIV in the future.
“I like to think that big players want the best players in the world to play in their tournaments despite what’s going on, but that’s obviously not up to me,” he said.
“I hope this isn’t the end of me.”
The British Open’s organizers, R&A, have banned players from making the debut series, but have stated that it may be more difficult to qualify in the future.
R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said the ban is “not on our agenda, but we will review our exemptions and eligibility criteria for the Open.”
One way that unruly players’ chances of playing in major tournaments are jeopardized is that the LIV series is not officially recognized in the official world rankings even though it has applied for inclusion.
Gooch said he only planned to play one LIV before deciding to sign full-time when he was removed from the PGA Tour, which surprised him.
“Historically, the Tour has not done that,” he said.
Gooch was one of 24 players at the Open this week for the Breakout Series, which offers $25 million in prizes for each 54-hole event.
He said many members of the LIV series made an impression this week, and Rebels was inspired by criticism from Open organizers and rival players.
“Looks like everybody’s against us and that’s okay. I think we’ve met a bit,” he said.
“We’ve received a lot of criticism for what we’ve done here lately, but I think one thing that cannot be questioned is the quality of the players there.”
Hoping that existing tours and new series will unravel, Gooch believes they can “live together”.
“I don’t think the golf world is benefiting from the continued clash of these heads. I think there is a way to solve this problem,” he said.
Source: Breitbart
