LIV GOLF ANDALUCIA

July 1, 2023

Talor Gooch

Real Club Valderrama

RangeGoats GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Talor Gooch from RangeGoats GC. You had an amazing day today, shot 6-under. The Talor that we've seen all season is back in full force. Tell us a little bit about your day.

TALOR GOOCH: Obviously a really good day. Out here if you get the ball in the fairway, you're going to have a chance. The fairways are just tough to hit.

I was able to hit a bunch of fairways and made a couple putts today. Yesterday I really didn't make anything. I played nearly as good, just made nothing. Made a few more putts today, which was good.

Again, for us this week, if we can get it in the fairway, we're liking our chances.

Q. What's been your experience this week playing in Spain, both with this amazing golf course, Valderrama, and also just the people and the culture and everything Spain has to offer?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, so my caddie is from Australia, and we've been talking about it all week. There's been a lot of similarities to the Adelaide tournament and this tournament from a sense of even the golf course, how you've got to play the golf course is similar, and you can tell these people are so excited and there's so much energy.

It's been spectacular. The first evening we were here, my wife is here, and we were like, we could live here. Like we love this place. Yeah, it's been awesome.

Q. Can you just talk about your play internationally this season. Obviously a couple wins already and playing well this week. I'm sure it's kind of coincidental but maybe it isn't. How do you explain that?

TALOR GOOCH: Partly with what I just said, the style of golf for Australia and here are somewhat similar, and so it's something I'm comfortable with. The types of grasses, the fairways and the greens are the same type of fairways and greens that I grew up on as far as the actual grass. Same with Australia.

For whatever reason, these international tournaments I've played well. I think, like I said, these two tournaments in particular, there's a lot of similarities in the golf course. That's been helpful.

Singapore was nothing like either of these, so I don't have anything for you there, but yeah, hey, someone told me earlier I was 48-under thus far on the international tournaments, so hopefully by the end of tomorrow we can be 54-under, just for the sake of it.

Yeah, I've loved the international tournaments so far.

Q. You're thinking 65 is going to do it tomorrow?

TALOR GOOCH: I would take 65 and not touch a club tomorrow and let them try to go get that for sure.

Q. Just talk about how fun it's going to be tomorrow. Obviously you're going to be playing with Brooks and Bryson, I think.

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah. My caddie and I were talking about it's been so cool to see Bryson trending and how well he's been playing here the last few months. We were halfway through the round and of course we're paired with him tomorrow, and we're like, oh, now I kind of don't want him to play well tomorrow.

We played the final round together in Singapore, me and Brooks did, and he's one of the greatest of our generation. It's going to be another great challenge and experience to go and try to beat him tomorrow, and also, like I said, Bryson, another major champion.

It's a fantastic golf course, great history, major champions in the final group. It's kind of what you hope for at the beginning of the week.

Q. On the team standpoint, obviously you guys are right there. Do you get a thank-you card from Bubba every time you have a round like this?

TALOR GOOCH: Hey, it's been -- I keep telling the four of us, what makes our group so special is, I might be a little biased, but I don't think there's another team with four guys that any given week can go and win on any type of golf course like our four can. That's what makes us really dangerous.

That's where you can have a guy like Harold who wins in D.C., who is struggling this week, but then you have TP who's picking up the slack, and Bubba who's been a steady player for us. It's always cool to see kind of who's going to show up for us each week, because like I said, any given week any of the four of us can win, and I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the year we have four different players with an individual title.

That gives you confidence in your team because you know, hey, if I don't have a great day, the odds are these other three are going to pick it up if I don't have a great day. We have a fun team, and it's time to go get another trophy tomorrow.

Q. Did you think there was a 63 out there today or even yesterday?

TALOR GOOCH: No. This golf course with this type of wind, it's so penal. You can't miss a shot. I missed two shots today, and I made two bogeys. I played really, really, really well.

It's going to be really tough, really challenging to make it 18 holes out here without a mistake, and if you do, hats off to you because it's just so penal. Not in an unfair way, just in a really fair, like you know what you've got to do, it's right there, you've just got to go do it. It's just not easy.

That's why I said if you were to give me 65 I would take my chances with it and just watch everyone else go and try to beat that.

Yeah, it's such a challenging golf course.

Q. Your team, the RangeGoats, and the Crushers are locked up at 10-under. What's that battle going to be like with the captain of the Crushers in your squad?

TALOR GOOCH: It's what makes LIV great. There's so many stories, so many things you've got to follow. It's a golf course that in a two-hole stretch, things can turn really, really quickly.

It's one of those days that obviously we kind of faltered down at the finish, but at one point in time, it looked like we were kind of pulling away, and all of a sudden we're tied back up. This golf course, there's just going to be some tumultuous things happen with guys all over the golf course with different stretches of tough holes, different stretches of birdieable holes.

It's just a great golf course that I think is going to create maybe a little bit of drama tomorrow. I don't want drama tomorrow, though.

Q. Can you talk about the difference in the wind from yesterday to today? Seemed like scoring was much easier today comparatively than yesterday.

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, there was just a few tee balls yesterday that that westerly wind yesterday, it just made it tough. Again, out here off the tee is so crucial because that's what's going to give you a chance to hit these small greens.

I just think the tee balls were not quite as difficult today as they were yesterday, and that's what I would say is kind of the biggest difference maker.

Q. If you go on and win tomorrow, that'll be three wins out here this year. If it had been three wins somewhere else, you would be absolutely on the Ryder Cup team. I don't know how much that's in your mindset, but do you think about the fact that you feel like you're making a statement at this point coming into July and there's not that much time between now and Ryder Cup?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, a few weeks back when I was in Cabo and woke up one morning and I had 137 texts on my phone and the news had broke of the merger, my immediate thought was, I wonder what this means for Ryder Cup. If apples were to apples, the guy leading the FedExCup and the guy leading the LIV standings, it's like -- I think my play has shown that it's at least worth a discussion.

At the end of the day, the better I play, the more that is just going to be a discussion hopefully.

I've got to go win, and I've got to go prove that I'm worthy of having a discussion about.

Q. Have you had any discussions at all with Zach?

TALOR GOOCH: I have not, no.

Q. On the 17th with Bryson and the atmosphere down there is really special. It's more of a festival than a golf event. How was the vibe for you when you were down there, and is this what you wanted the LIV product to look like going forward?

TALOR GOOCH: Well, how far is Ibiza from here? At first, I was like, we're probably pretty close. But it was so cool, and when I played that hole, Cam made like a 30-footer for eagle and they went nuts. I looked at my caddie, and I go, how cool is this.

It's part of what makes LIV so fantastic. The crowds just are so into it, so energetic. It's just a blast.

I get on 18 tee with Cam, and I was like, how freaking sweet was that, dude.

Yeah, it was awesome. It was loud. It was vibrant. It was everything that is fun about a golf tournament, if I was a fan.

Q. Your change in form this year, two wins already and heading towards a third. What do you put that down to?

TALOR GOOCH: If you look at my career, my first year on the PGA Tour I had an injury and I was out for a month. My second year on Tour I was an injury and I was out for two months. Kind of right when I got on the PGA Tour and kind of got going I was fighting some injuries a little bit early. I couldn't get into a rhythm and routine really with my game and my scheduling and just understanding how to be a professional golfer.

Finally I kind of started getting my feet under myself, and if you look at the pace of my career, I've figured out how to improve year after year, and so last year I had a handful of moments where I was in contention and had a chance to go win tournaments and I didn't get it done, and so you hope the natural progression was then you start to win tournaments, you start to get more comfortable, and that experience just yields confidence and belief.

We haven't found any pixie dust to sprinkle on my golf clubs or anything. We've just continued to work hard and trust in the process and know that if we get better each day, when we look up a year, two years, five years from now, we're going to have done some good things.