Talor Gooch Explained

Talor Gooch
Fullname:Talor Keith Gooch
Birth Date:14 November 1991
Birth Place:Midwest City, Oklahoma
Weight:200lb
Residence:Midwest City, Oklahoma
College:Oklahoma State University
Yearpro:2014
Tour:LIV Golf
Extour:PGA Tour
Web.com Tour
PGA Tour Canada
Prowins:5
Pgawins:1
Nwidewins:1
Livwins:3
Masters:T14: 2022
Usopen:66th: 2017
Open:T33: 2021
Pga:T20: 2022
Award1:LIV Golf League
individual points list winner
Year1:2023
Award2:LIV Golf League
money list winner
Year2:2023

Talor Keith Gooch (born November 14, 1991) is an American professional golfer.

Early life and amateur career

Gooch was born in Midwest City, Oklahoma. He played college golf at Oklahoma State University.[1] He was already drawing notice for his talent as a six-year-old. His father, Ron Gooch, played minor league professional baseball in the Texas Rangers organization.[2]

Professional career

Gooch played on the PGA Tour Canada in 2015 and 2016. His best finish was second at the 2015 Syncrude Boreal Open. In December 2016, he tied for 23rd place in the Web.com Tour qualifying tournament to earn a place on the Web.com Tour in 2017.[3] In August 2017, he won the News Sentinel Open.[4] He finished sixth on the regular season money list to earn his PGA Tour card.[1]

On the 2017–18 PGA Tour, Gooch made 12 cuts in 27 events with a best finish of T13 at the Wells Fargo Championship. He finished 139th on the FedEx Cup points list to retain conditional status for the following season. He had two top-5 finishes early in the 2018–19 season and finished 101st on the FedEx Cup points list.[1]

In November 2021, Gooch won his first PGA Tour event at the RSM Classic in Sea Island, Georgia. Gooch shot a final round 6-under-par 64 to win by three strokes.[5]

2022–2023: LIV Golf

Gooch joined the LIV Golf Invitational Series in May 2022.[6] Gooch placed 9th in the LIV Golf London at Centurion Club, earning $580,000. Gooch was also a member of the 4Aces GC team at Portland. In an interview after the event, Gooch compared the event to Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup events.[7]

In April 2023, Gooch won his first LIV event by winning the LIV Golf Adelaide event in Australia,[8] following it one week later with a victory at the LIV event in Singapore.[9] In July 2023, Gooch won his third LIV event, LIV Golf Andalucía which was played at Valderrama in Spain.[10] Following the end of the 2023 LIV Golf League's individual season, Gooch won an $18 million bonus for winning the season long points race.[11]

Controversies

Since joining LIV Golf in 2022, Gooch became involved in several off-course controversies in the media regarding comments about LIV's stature in the professional game. In July 2022, speaking after the LIV Golf Invitational Portland event; Gooch compared the atmosphere and crowds at the event as similar to that of playing in a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, despite having not played in one himself.[12] In February 2024, Gooch commented on the prospect of Rory McIlroy winning the 2024 Masters Tournament; suggesting that if he were to go and win, it would come with an "asterisk" since some of the LIV Golf roster would not be playing in the tournament.[13] McIlroy responded to this by suggesting that Gooch be more like Joaquín Niemann, another LIV player who had also competed in non-LIV events and received a special invitation to play in the 2024 Masters.[14]

Amateur wins

Source:[15]

Professional wins (5)

LIV Golf League wins (3)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1Apr 23, 2023LIV Golf Adelaide162-62-73=197−193 strokes Anirban Lahiri
2Apr 30, 2023LIV Golf Singapore164-65-67=196−17Playoff Sergio García
3Jul 2, 2023LIV Golf Andalucía169-65-67=201−121 stroke Bryson DeChambeau
1Co-sanctioned by the MENA Tour

LIV Golf League playoff record (1–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12023LIV Golf Singapore Sergio GarcíaWon with birdie on first extra hole
22023LIV Golf Jeddah Brooks KoepkaLost to birdie on second extra hole

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament20172018
Masters Tournament
U.S. Open66
The Open Championship
PGA Championship
Tournament201920202021202220232024
Masters TournamentT14T34
PGA ChampionshipCUTT44T20CUTT60
U.S. OpenCUT
The Open ChampionshipNTT33T34CUT
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Results in The Players Championship

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament20212022
Championship
Match PlayT56T18
Invitational
ChampionsNT1NT1
1Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Talor Gooch – Profile . PGA Tour . January 28, 2019.
  2. Web site: Boy a Chip Off Block, Putt Above . The Oklahoman . July 3, 2022.
  3. Web site: 2016 Web.com Tour Q-school leaderboard . The Golf News Net . 22 November 2021.
  4. News: Talor Gooch rallies from 5 shots back to win News Sentinel Open . ESPN . Associated Press . August 20, 2017.
  5. Web site: Talor Gooch picks up 1st Tour victory at RSM Classic . Thescore.com . Associated Press . November 21, 2021 . November 21, 2021.
  6. News: Dustin Johnson headlines field of players set to participate in first LIV Golf Series Invitational event . 2022-06-01 . 2022-05-31 . CBS Sports . Patrick . McDonald.
  7. Talor Gooch compared the fans at the LIV Golf event in Portland to the Ryder Cup . Golfweek . Adam . Woodard . July 2, 2022 . July 5, 2023.
  8. Talor Gooch Wins LIV Adelaide In Wire-to-Wire Fashion . Sports Illustrated . Gabrielle . Herzig . April 23, 2023 . July 5, 2023.
  9. News: Talor Gooch makes LIV Golf history in Singapore with back-to-back victories . The Independent . April 30, 2023 . July 5, 2023.
  10. News: LIV Golf League: Talor Gooch earns third win of season after one-shot victory at Valderrama . Sky Sports . July 2, 2023 . July 5, 2023.
  11. News: Koepka wins tourney; Gooch wins LIV points title . ESPN . Associated Press . October 15, 2023 . October 16, 2023.
  12. News: Golf world has good laugh at Talor Gooch's LIV Golf-Ryder Cup quote . The Comeback . Sean . Keeley . 3 July 2022 . 31 March 2024.
  13. Talor Gooch: Why Rory McIlroy Masters win would warrant asterisk . Golf Magazine . Josh . Berhow . 27 February 2024 . 31 March 2024.
  14. Rory McIlroy's advice for Talor Gooch: Be more like Joaquin Niemann! . National Club Golfer . Matt . Chivers . 28 February 2024 . 31 March 2024.
  15. Web site: Talor Gooch . World Amateur Golf Ranking . January 28, 2019.