The LIV Golf individual champion was left hanging by the powers that be at Augusta National, despite having displayed the kind of form that would typically have seen him in contention to receive an invitation.
Gooch, 32, vented his frustration at not receiving an invite during an interview with Golf Digest Australia and in the process took aim at Rory McIlroy, claiming that if he were to win then there would need to be an asterisk by the achievement.
The internet reacted in typical form, with fans, pundits and even current players slamming Gooch for his comments.
Unfortunately for Gooch, it is annual tradition for The Masters to dish out special invites to international players and this year they decided to go with LIV Golf’s Joaquin Niemann, as well as PGA Tour players Thorbjorn Olesen and Ryo Hisatsune.
Niemann’s LIV Golf credentials were not even mentioned by Augusta National, however, as they solely focused on his Australian Open victory at the end of 2023 as the reason for an invite landing on his door mat.
The red-hot Chilean, who has won two of the first three LIV Golf events in 2024, has also received an invite into the US PGA in May.
In an exclusive interview with GolfMagic ahead of LIV Golf’s fourth event in Hong Kong this week, Gooch’s Smash GC teammate Graeme McDowell highlighted how the American really feels about being excluded from all four majors this season, especially The Masters.
One of the main reasons Gooch did not decide to chase OWGR points in other tournaments during LIV Golf’s off-season, like Niemann did, was down to welcoming a second-born child into the world.
