'Rightfully So, I've Taken A Little Bit Of Heat For It' - Gooch On LIV Ryder Cup Remark

Talor Gooch says he's rightfully taken some heat after comparing LIV Golf to the Ryder Cup during celebrations alongside his winning 4Aces team at the second event in Portland.

Amid the celebrations, Gooch said: "I haven't played a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup, but can't imagine there's a whole hell of a lot of difference." He has been criticised, or mocked, publicly by various players including Justin Thomas.

"Yeah, a bunch of players came up, and they're like really? Really? I was like, hold on a second, guys. Give me a little break. I just won. I was in the moment. I might have gotten a little aggressive with the comments," Gooch said at the 150th Open.

"It was just I was in the moment with them. We were pumped. I watch F1. I was so pumped to be able to spray champagne like they do in F1. I was in the moment. Maybe a little aggressive of a comment. Rightfully so, I've taken a little bit of heat for it."

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Gooch is seven-under-par after 36 holes at St Andrews, where a number of his LIV colleagues are also featuring in the upper echelons of the leaderboard. He thinks that the criticism of the players has "banded us together."

"I think there's some strong players, no doubt," he said. "The credentials of everyone speaks for themselves. It's obviously cool for me to see other guys that are out there playing well. We've caught a lot of flack for what we've done here recently. I think one thing that cannot be questioned is the quality of players that are there.

"Everybody, it feels like, is against us, and that's okay. It's kind of banded us together, I think."

Gooch could also potentially be playing in his final Major, as crazy as that sounds. A report from Sportsmail this week stated that there is a possibility of LIV players being banned from next year's Majors. He obviously hopes this week won't be his final Major and wants the organisations to worth together better but joked that "it would be a cool one to go out on."

"I mean, it would be a cool one to go out on," he said. "Hopefully not, though. I'd like to think that the Majors would like to have the best players in the world playing in their events in spite of everything that's going on, but obviously that's not up to me. It's up to other people. Hopefully this won't be my last one.

"Yeah, I've said it from the get-go, I don't think the golf world benefits from this continued butting of heads. I think there's a way to resolve this. I'm not the guy to do that. I'm not the guy that decides that. But I think there's a way to resolve it that benefits everybody involved from the fans to the players, to the organisations and everyone. I think there's a way to do that."

Gooch currently ranks 40th in the world, having won his maiden PGA Tour title at last year's RSM Classic. He's making his second Open appearance this week.