Justin Thomas Slams Talor Gooch For Comparing LIV Golf's Atmosphere To The Ryder Cup

When it comes to the first group of players that jumped ship from the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf, Talor Gooch being among that crowd was a surprise. Being just 30-years-old and finding his footing on the Tour, many didn't see the move coming, but he's since fully engulfed himself in the LIV Golf lifestyle.

Gooch made headlines at the LIV Golf event in Portland this past weekend when he compared the atmosphere to that of a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. It was a bold comment to make seeing as how Gooch has never been a part of a Cup team.

"I haven't played a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, but I can't imagine there's a whole helluva lot difference," Gooch said, with a straight face.

You could hear the gasp from all of Golf Twitter when Gooch made the comment.










Justin Thomas, who has played on Cup teams in the past, isn't letting Gooch's ridiculous comment go by the wayside.

Thomas was asked about Gooch's bold words during his Wednesday presser ahead of this week's Scottish Open, and he didn't hold back.

“Yeah, you can’t compare those,” Thomas explained. “There’s no event on Tour that’s like the Ryder Cup or the Presidents Cup until you stand on the first tee in France and there’s 10,000 people there and I feel like I wouldn’t even be able to get a golf ball on a tee I’m so nervous and my hands are shaking so bad.

"Yeah, I probably wouldn’t comment on saying that one is like the other because it’s not.”

Fair play from JT here. Thomas and other PGA Tour players have free reign to criticize LIV Golf and its players, especially when they make asinine comments as Gooch did.









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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.