LIV Golf star Talor Gooch believes the lack of LIV Golf players at the majors would cheapen any victory such as Rory McIlroy gunning for the green jacket at Augusta.
The golf majors are fast approaching for 2024 with the Masters kicking things off in April.
As always, McIlroy will garner plenty of attention in the build-up to the tournament with questions being raised if he can win the Career Grand Slam.
He's come close on several occasions and has finished in the top 10 in seven of the last 10 Masters.
He finished second two years ago when Scottie Scheffler pulled on the green jacket - but this year's field could look very different to the one that lined up that season.
Rory McIlroy is bidding for the Career Grand Slam
GETTY
Joaquin Niemann may have been given a special invite to the 2024 Masters, but his fellow LIV Golfers haven't been so fortunate.
Gooch, who topped LIV Golf's Order of Merit last year, has not received an invite to the Masters this year.
With LIV Golf still not recognised by the Official World Golf Rankings, Gooch has dropped down the rankings to 449th.
Other big names not in the field include Harold Varner III, Charles Howell III, Mito Pereira, Abraham Ancer, Thomas Pieters, Kevin Na and Louis Oosthuizen.
Gooch feels that ultimately devalues the Masters and wouldn't hold McIlroy's Career Grand Slam in the same regard as the five others to achieve the historic feat.
“If Rory McIlroy goes and completes his [Career] Grand Slam without some of the best players in the world, there’s just going to be an asterisk,” Gooch told Australia Golf Digest.
“It’s just the reality. I think everybody wins whenever the majors figure out a way to get the best players in the world there.”
He added: “I think the majors have kind of shown that they’re not getting on board with LIV.
"‘Joaco’ went outside of LIV and played some great golf and they rewarded him for that.
"So hopefully the day will turn when the majors decide to start rewarding good play on LIV.
"Hopefully that’ll be sooner than later.”
Lee Westwood has taken aim at the OWGR for continuing to exclude LIV Golf events from their system.
Talor Gooch doesn't think this year's Masters field is as good as it should be
GETTY
And he believes it's gone on for so long that the current system won't be able to recover.
“I think the Official World Golf Ranking has got itself into a real hole," he said.
“It’s got itself to a point where it’s obsolete, really, if I’m being completely honest.
“It’s managed to be so stubborn that it no longer ranks all the best golfers in the world fairly.
LATEST SPORT NEWS:
Lee Westwood doesn't think the ranking system is fit for purpose
GETTY
“And it’s gone so far that I don’t see how it can come back from the hole that it’s in because you can’t backdate them.
“I don’t know where the OWGR goes from there. It’s not fit for purpose anymore.
“It’s there to rank the best golfers in the world and it doesn’t do that. And if you are a major championship and you’re looking for the best fields, you now can’t go off the OWGR to formulate your fields and use them for exemptions.
“You’ve got to find another way of doing it, otherwise you lose credibility as a major championship, don’t you?”
