Talor Gooch loses half of winner's cheque in fresh furore around LIV Golf
The in-form golfer is sliding down the ranking despite his LIV Golf success.
LIV Golf's Talor Gooch has revealed his disappointment in losing a huge chunk of his money to Australian tax after his victory in Adelaide. Gooch is one of the in-form players in the world having won back-to-back LIV Golf titles after a playoff hole victory against Sergio Garcia at the LIV Singapore tournament at Sentosa Golf Club.
This followed his epic victory in front of a raucous Adelaide crowd in LIV Golf's first Australian tournament. Gooch won a life-changing $5.97 million winner's cheque in Australia. The 31-year-old from Oklahoma slept on a 10 shot overnight cushion but won by just three after a bumpy final round at the Grange in Adelaide's west.
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Unfortunately, Gooch has opened up about his shock at just how much the Aussie tax office took from his pay cheque. “I was checking my phone on Monday because I was like I want to see that thing hit,” Gooch told Fore The People podcast.
“Monday after the direct deposit hits, it was a little disheartening seeing 47 and a half per cent, because of Australian taxes, not enter the account.” If Gooch is correct, that would mean he lost a little more than $2.8 million from his winnings.
Obviously the American was annoyed, but said he couldn't complain after the biggest win of his career. “It did suck that 47 and a half per cent was withheld for Australian taxes unfortunately," he added.
“I’m by no means complaining but the four ($US4 million) once you cut it all up let’s just say it’s a lot less than four on the back end of it, but hey I’m not going to complain.”
Greg Norman blasts golf rankings system
One of the big talking points after Singapore is the rankings system. Gooch has won back-to-back events with a field including multiple major winners, reigning The Open champion Cameron Smith and three of the top four finishers from this year's Masters.
Despite his form, Gooch has dropped from World No.59 to 60 with LIV Golf events not recognised by the OWGR. LIV Golf, the lucrative Saudi-backed league, applied for OWGR points in July but the process can take up to a year or more.
The Gira de Golf Professional de Mexicana tour — the most recent tour approved to receive OWGR points — went through a 16-month application process before receiving points in January. Dustin Johnson has also been on the losing end of the current situation.
He was ranked 15th in the world when he went to LIV Golf and won the circuit's individual season title last year, but is now outside the top 70 in the OWGR. As LIV golfers wait for their turn, players are venting their frustrations that the lack of OWGR points at LIV events can hurt a player's chances of qualifying for major championships.
"You should realise that the OWGR is not accurate, one," Bryson DeChambeau said this week as he prepared for LIV Golf Singapore at Sentosa Golf Club. "Two, I think that they need to come to a resolution or it will become obsolete. It's pretty much almost obsolete as of right now.
"But again, if the majors and everything continue to have that as their ranking system, then they are biting it quite heavily." And Greg Norman also weighed-in on the drama. “The OWGR institution has hurt themselves, hurt their own credibility, hurt their product because they’re not including the best of the best,” Norman told News Corp of the drama facing LIV Golf players.
“It’s a crying shame that’s happened to be honest with you. But it’s also on the flip side of that, it’s interesting how there’s three new ranking systems have come out to make sure it’s a true balanced system, running true algorithms across every tour, across everything with no fear or favour, no bias.”
with AAP
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