LIV GOLF ANDALUCíA

July 13, 2025

Talor Gooch

Real Club Valderrama

Smash GC

Press Conference

TALOR GOOCH: I just can't describe how special it is to beat Rahmbo. While all the fans may not love that part, it makes it a little bit more special for me. It's been two years since I won. My last win was here. So it's been two years of a lot of hard work, a lot of time put into this craft, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears shed to get back here.

The patience and hard work has paid off, and I couldn't be happier for it to have paid off here at Valderrama.

Q. Got off to a bit of a slow start the first six holes but then the birdie on 18 was clutch, the shot you hit into 18. Can you talk about how you played down the stretch?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, nothing was easy today. I felt like I had very few tap-ins. I felt like I had a bunch of three-, four-, five-footers for par. On 13, I made about a five-footer for par. On 15 I made about a 20-footer for birdie. On 16 I made about a five-footer for par. 17 made about a five-footer for birdie. I felt like my back was against the wall all day long.

To make a birdie on 17 to take the lead and then the shot I hit on 18, my caddie Mel when we got done, he said that second shot on 18, he said, that's the best iron shot he can remember seeing.

It was not the place you want to be to try to win a golf tournament, but we hit a phenomenal golf shot and got it done.

Q. You've showed incredible composure when you've gone up against some of the biggest names. I think you beat Bryson when you won here in Andalucía. You took down Jon this week. What does that mean to you?

TALOR GOOCH: Like I said, made it a little bit more special for Rahmbo to be the one that I had to beat today. I've beaten Sergio in a playoff out here, I've made a birdie on the last to beat Bryson, beat Rahmbo by one. To beat this caliber of players, it's just an affirmation of where my game has gotten and the type of player that I can be. Just again, it makes the wins that much more special.

Q. This is your fourth individual win, but you include the team wins, you've now lifted 13 trophies, which is more than any other LIV Golfer. Wondering what that means to you and how you put that into perspective.

TALOR GOOCH: You know, it's cool considering I've been on three different teams, so we've had some success on the teams that I've been on. Year one with the Aces, year two with the Goats and then the last year here with Smash. We've been able to get some wins everywhere I've been, which makes it that much more fun and that much more just fulfilling.

That's a pretty cool stat. I didn't know I had the most trophies on LIV. I'll be sure to let everyone know in JCB that that's the case.

Q. How much better are your celebration techniques on the podium?

TALOR GOOCH: This one was more of a relief than a celebration. I was on the podium a couple months back in South Korea, in Seoul, but not in the winner's circle.

Like I was telling Anthony at the interview when we were standing on 18, it's nice to get sprayed on 18 again.

Q. You were talking about the crowd here. Obviously they're heavily supporting Jon. Did you kind of embrace the spoiler role, do you think, and did that help you at all?

TALOR GOOCH: You know, the fans, they're great even if you're not a Spaniard. Obviously I know that they want one of their own to win, but I never felt like the spoiler. They've embraced me so much.

Obviously having won here two years ago, I think I've garnered a few more fans. Yeah, I felt super supported out there. Like I said, these are incredible sports fans, and it's just another great reason to win here in front of them.

Q. Are you glad not to have to hit another tee shot on 1? And what did you think was a key moment today?

TALOR GOOCH: I'm glad to not have to hit a lot of tee shots out here for another however long it's going to be.

Yeah, this place is just so penal, and it applies pressure to you throughout the entire round. There's a few shots on that back nine that I'm going to never forget kind of moments.

Obviously the second shot on 18 is one of those moments. But even the birdie on 17, just given the moment, given the situation, I knew I needed a birdie. Those are the type of moments, like I said, years down the road I'm going to look back on and just have great memories of.

It was a great memory filled day and thankfully not a bad one.

Q. Your resurgence particularly this week seems really well-timed with LIV getting more spots in the majors as of this year going forward. Obviously the application for the World Rankings has been resubmitted. Do you feel like it's a really timely way for you to start playing your way back into winning form?

TALOR GOOCH: I wish I would have played this way to start the year so I could have maybe gotten one of those spots into the majors at those certain points that we had.

Listen, playing good golf anytime is good. I want to play good golf all the time.

But yeah, with the momentum of the league and the momentum that we have with what we're doing, everything from having HSBC and these big, big companies coming and seeing our vision and getting on board and supporting and partnering with us, it's a good time to do well.

I'm just happy again to be in the winner's circle and happy to do it here in Valderrama.

Q. You mentioned the momentum of the league. Where do you see that at the moment given that you were sort of caught in the crosshairs of that gray area in the first two seasons, but now it looks like some of those pathways are coming back and there are now avenues into majors. Where do you see LIV Golf at at the moment?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, that's a great question. Obviously it's a move in the right direction. As we continue to move in the right direction, I think we'll get to where the end goal is, and that's just to have people who want to come to LIV because of access into the majors, not people not wanting to go and play on LIV because not having access to the majors.

The closer we can get to that point, the better it is for all of us out here and for young kids coming up. I've said many a times, the Tom McKibbins and Caleb Surratts and David Puiges, I hope for their sake who haven't played in majors -- David has played in a few, but Tom and Caleb haven't played in any, these are young kids who have a lot of time left in this game, and I just hope that they get a chance to play those four special weeks a year.

I hope it's because of their superior play on LIV.

That's my hope and my desire, so we've started to move in that direction.

Q. There is speculation about this tournament going from Valderrama to Madrid. I assume you may be against that?

TALOR GOOCH: I want to play Valderrama as much as we can. I've heard some of that speculation, too. We've never been to Madrid. I was actually talking about Rahmbo with it. If we go there, that would be fantastic, as well. This place has a special place in my heart, and I hope we come back here every year we can.

Q. When you hear yourself thinking about Valderrama, what does that mean for you? What is the meaning of Valderrama in your life?

TALOR GOOCH: I was just taking pictures with some of the staff from the club, and they said that this being my second win, that this is going to be the second picture of me up in the clubhouse.

Just to have a picture up in the clubhouse with all the great champions and all the great tournaments and matches of the history of this place, it's special. Even Sergio, right? Like him having won here, you just think about the champions and the greats that have been here, it's just an honor and special to be a part of that talk here.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much, and congratulations.