Talor Gooch lost brutal LIV Golf playoff - but still banked $20 million bonus

Talor Gooch may well have lost out via a brutal playoff to Brooks Koepka at last year's regular-season LIV Golf finale, but this did not stop the American from banking an eye-watering payout for his efforts.

Gooch proved to be the man to catch on to the LIV setup in 2023, winning three times throughout the campaign in Adelaide, Singapore, and Andalucia. And the 32-year-old looked set to make it four at the final event of the season, tussling at it out with Koepka at LIV Jeddah.

The former PGA Tour star went on to tie with the five-time major champion at 14-under-par for the week after 54 holes, forcing the final tournament of the regular campaign into a playoff.

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And after two extra holes it was Koepka who prevailed, as the Smash GC captain got his hands on his third LIV title, defending the crown he had won a season earlier. For Gooch, it was no doubt an agonizing finish, but it was not all bad after his runner-up finish proved enough to see him come out on top in the year-long standings.

Having banked a cool $2,250,000 in prize money for coming second in the Middle East, he was then rewarded with a further $18 million as a reward for his Order of Merit win. It was no doubt a bizarre post-round feeling for Gooch, whose playoff woes were quickly ruled out by a title win.

In the aftermath, he said: "You've got 48 guys. I don't know how many major champions and Ryder Cuppers and Ryder Cup captains and Hall-of-Famers, but you've got 48 of the best players in the world with some legends and some current great players, major champions.

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"When you're playing all kinds of courses across the world in different climates, in different parts of the world and back home in the States and everything over the span of a season, to beat everybody over the course of that, it speaks volumes to the quality of golf that you've played.

"For me, again, it's a validation of all the hard work, all the patience, and the years it took to get my game to this spot to, I think, be considered one of the best players in the world... It's special. Again, I've always felt that I was good enough to be a professional golfer and play against the best in the world.

"Now to be here to, I think, consider myself one of the best in the world, it's what I've been dreaming about since I was nine years old. To get to this point in my career and to have this validating of a season, yeah, words can't describe how much it means and just how satisfying it is."

One year on Gooch is set to hand over his LIV crown to either Jon Rahm or Joaquin Niemann when the curtain comes down on the campaign in Chicago this week. There is no doubt the defending champion will be hoping to end 2024 as strong as possible, with Gooch currently 10th in the standings.