The $3MILLION moaner! LIV Golf rebel Talor Gooch laments losing almost half his prize money from the Saudi-funded tour’s inaugural event Down Under after the Australian taxman took 47% of his $6m cheque
Talor Gooch revealed his triumph at LIV Golf Adelaide was spoilt by the Australian taxman, which claimed almost half of his winning.
The American won the inaugural LIV Golf event Down Under last week, shooting a one-over 73 to clinch his maiden victory on the Saudi-backed tour by three strokes from Anirban Lahiri.
The 31-year-old pocketed $6million in prize money, but a large part of it never reached his bank account with $2.86million claimed by the Australian’s tax office.
‘It was a little bit disheartening seeing 47 and a half percent because Australian taxes [do] not enter the account,’ he told the Fore The People podcast.
‘It comes, you know, almost it sometimes it’s like 48 hours, but it’s usually 24 hours after it direct deposit hits.
Talor Gooch won LIV Golf’s inaugural event in Australia last week as he triumphed in Adelaide
The American claimed a $6million cheque but lost 47 percent of the amount to taxes
‘It was a big one this last week, but yeah, it sucked that 47 and a half percent was withheld for Australian taxes, unfortunately.
‘I am by no means complaining, but the four [million dollars] [six million in Australian dollars] once you cut it all up, let’s just say that it’s lot less than four.’
All LIV Golf events follow the same structure and have the same payout, with a total prize pool of $37million.
The winner takes home $6million, with the winning team sharing a $4million cheque. There are 12 teams in total, each comprising of four players each.
On Sunday, Gooch claimed his second $6million cheque in a week as he became the first player to win back-to-back LIV Golf titles after sealing a playoff hole victory against Sergio Garcia at the LIV Singapore tournament at Sentosa Golf Club.
It means the American, who had won just once in 121 PGA Tour starts before defecting to LIV Golf, has collected $12million worth of winnings in just over a week – at least before the Australian tax office got its share.
And Gooch’s exploits could make his caddie Mal Baker a rich man, with the Aussie set to pocket $1.2million for his services should the LIV Golf star offer 10 percent of the winnings to his caddie as is common for professional golfers.
Last week, Gooch credited Baker, who has been on his bag for six years, for playing a key role in his triumph in Adelaide.
‘His green reading ability out here is incredible,’ he said.
‘I leaned on him more this week than I have in a long time. He was so spot on early on, and it just gave me confidence in him, and I think it gave confidence in himself
Gooch credited his Aussie caddie Mal Baker (left) for winning in Adelaide last week
‘He did a really, really good job of just not wavering and just being himself and just acting like this is another round of golf, even though it was a huge round of golf for us.’
Should Baker pocket $1.2million, he will make more money in a week than Jordan Spieth earned for finishing fourth at the Masters last month.
The figure will only be just marginally below what Masters champion Jon Rahm made for finishing as runner-up to Tony Finau at the Mexico Open on Sunday.
The Spaniard received $1.3million and has already made $22million this season courtesy of a remarkable run of form.
