After the Masters, 2023 Major Qualifying May Have Quirks Thanks to LIV Golf
LIV Golf continues to be disruptive, but in ways nobody could quite see coming.
Take, for instance, the Tuesday announcement by the Masters that it would be leaving its qualification criteria for 2023 intact. That means 16 players who are part of the LIV Golf League will be able to tee it up at Augusta National in April. It was the expected outcome.
But look in the fine print.
Talor Gooch, who joined LIV prior to its first event in London, made the field via the Official World Golf Ranking that is used at the end of the calendar year. Gooch is 40th.
But Gooch also qualified via the Tour Championship exemption category, No. 17 to be exact: “Those qualifying for the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship.”
Here’s the rub: Gooch did not play in August's Tour Championship because he was ineligible due a PGA Tour suspension imposed on those who participated in LIV Golf events. He had earned enough points to be eligible, however (he tied for 29th and was to be paid the corresponding amount).
And that, apparently, is what matters to the Masters.
But that also means that Aaron Wise, who did play in the Tour Championship and finished 13th, did not make the Masters field via that category. Wise is 33rd in the OWGR, which is a good thing, because we’d have a mini-controversy on our hands otherwise.
The PGA Tour last summer instituted a separate points list that excluded LIV Golf players. It was done so as not to penalize those players who were behind those competing in LIV Golf but no longer on the Tour. It allowed, for example, Rickie Fowler to move into the top 125 and compete in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
And it meant that Wise could earn his way into the Tour Championship without Gooch keeping him out.
Here is where things could get interesting.
The U.S. Open uses the same wording as at the Masters for one of its criteria: “Those qualifying for the previous year’s season-ending Tour Championship.’’
Will the United States Golf Association interpret the language the same way as the Masters? If so, Gooch is in and Wise still has to sweat out qualifying in various other ways, the most obvious by being among the top 60 in the world two weeks prior to the U.S. Open or the week of the tournament.
If it is interpreted just based on who was in the Tour Championship field, then Gooch, who is 40th, in the world and not earning points in LIV Golf events, would need to hope he can find a way to stay among the top 60.
The British Open language is different: “Top 30 players from the final (year) points list.’’
The latter is far more clear cut. By that definition, Gooch is in the Open at Royal Liverpool and Wise is not—yet. The Open typically takes the top 50 in the OWGR at a point eight weeks prior to the tournament.
Neither the U.S. Open or the Open have made their qualification criteria official for the 2023 tournaments.
The PGA Championship does not use the OWGR as a qualification criteria, but typically uses it to offer invites to players otherwise not in the field.