Rory McIlroy brushes off Masters 'asterisk' talk by Talor Gooch - ESPN

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Here's how things seem to work regarding LIV Golf and Rory McIlroy: Someone says something, the other side responds, and the cycle just keeps repeating from one topic to the next.

The latest chapter of the saga came Wednesday, when McIlroy said he wanted to give LIV Golf player Talor Gooch «the benefit of the doubt» over comments he made that if the world's No. 2-ranked player wins the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam, the accomplishment should come with an asterisk because some players who have signed with Saudi-funded LIV cannot play at Augusta National after falling out of the top 50 in the world rankings.

«The Masters is an invitational, and they'll invite whoever they think warrants an invite,» said McIlroy, who will play in the Cognizant Classic that starts Thursday at PGA National — the site of what used to be called the Honda Classic. «I think to be fair to Talor, if you read the entire… the question and then the answer, it's not as if he just came out with that. I feel like whoever did the interview led him down that path to say that, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt there a little bit. He just agreed with what the interviewer asked.»

Gooch told Australian Golf Digest in a story published earlier this week, «If Rory McIlroy goes and completes his Grand Slam without some of the best players in the world, there's just going to be an asterisk. 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.»

McIlroy, a three-time FedEx Cup champion, will be playing in the Masters for the 16th consecutive year. He lost a 4-shot lead in the final round of 2011 and played in the final group with winner Patrick