Phil Mickelson thinks it’s a ‘d–k move’ for the USGA to enact a new rule that could keep fellow LIV Golf competitor out of the U.S. Open.
The rules previously said golfers had to “qualify” for the PGA Tour Championship and also the U.S. Open, but they were changed to say “those players who qualified and were eligible,” according to Golf Digest.
Talor Gooch is now ineligible to compete in the PGA Tour Championship after defecting to LIV Golf, and by the new USGA rules he is thus also ineligible for an exemption to the U.S. Open.
“Any time we make changes to our criteria going forward it impacts somebody and that stinks, but we can only look forward,” USGA CEO Mike Whan told Golf Channel earlier this week.
Mickelson found Whan’s rationale to be unsatisfactory.
“[Gooch] qualified 9 months ago via Tour championship,” Mickelson tweeted on Friday. “3 months ago Whan changed the wording on the qualifying criteria to take it away. Total d–k move by Whan. He leads our governing body. Sad.”
“The USGA is not the pga tour,” Mickelson wrote to a Twitter user who was unsympathetic to Gooch.
“His pga tour suspension has nothing to do with the USGA. The rule clearly stated he qualified via tour championship. He did not have to play. Whan changed the rule 6 months after the fact to exclude him. Like I said, a d–k move.”
Earlier this week, Mickelson, who earned his exemption into the tournament by winning the 2021 PGA Championship, accused the USGA of being in cahoots with the PGA Tour.
“Mike Whan recently changed the wording from ‘qualified’ for the Tour championship to ‘eligible,’ Mickelson tweeted Tuesday.
“Thereby taking away Gooch’s exemption since he wasn’t eligible to play even though he had qualified.This doesn’t make the US open better in any way but does help collude with the Tour.”
Gooch could still qualify for the U.S. Open if he is ranked in the top 60 in the world as of May 22, but that is an uphill climb.
“That was obviously disappointing because that changed rule only affected one person, which was me,” Gooch told the “73rd Hole Podcast” earlier this month.
“So that was frustrating and tough because with LIV still not being rewarded with World Ranking points, I have only two options to qualify for the U.S. Open: via my World Ranking, which is going to be very challenging, or trying to obviously go through the qualifying route of sectional qualifying.”
Even though he has won the last two LIV Golf events, those titles don’t count for Gooch, who is currently ranked exactly 60th, because LIV tournaments don’t factor into OWGR player rankings.