LIV GOLF ADELAIDE

February 13, 2026

Talor Gooch

The Grange

Smash GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the media center Talor Gooch, captain of Smash GC. Excellent round today, bogey-free 9-under 63. Take us through your round and how you felt about round 2.

TALOR GOOCH: I mean, 63s are always good. Man, it was a really good day today. I think I shot 6-under on the front nine and just kind of really got off to a good start. I was 4-under through six holes, I think. Kind of kept it going.

Missed a couple real good birdie attempts kind of in the middle of the round, and then made a nice birdie on my 15th hole. Made like a 25-footer, which was nice, and then ended it with a nice birdie. Great day, and we need more of those.

Q. You've obviously had success here at the Grange before. What is it about this course, this event that feels so good it seems to suit your game?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, I think when I'm swinging good, this place is comfortable to my eye. The sight lines, the way the place looks, I've talked about this in the past; it's the same type of grasses that I grew up on, bent greens, Bermuda fairways, so there's a familiarity with this style of golf that, like I said, whenever I'm comfortable, I think I'm able to play good golf.

But it is the type of course that if you're not comfortable, if you don't have your game tight, it's not easy. It seems to fit my eye when things are going good.

Q. Right now only four back from the individual leaderboard with still two more rounds to go. How do you approach the weekend, and is anything different with the additional round after two rounds just in terms of your mindset?

TALOR GOOCH: Not really. I'm going to go try to hit the first -- not to sound cliche, but I'm going to try to go hit the first fairway tomorrow and get it going. This is the type of course you can't really get ahead of yourself because you can make a few bogeys real quick out here, so you've just got to stay really present.

36 holes left, you've got to stay as present as possible, try to hit as many fairways and greens as possible. These greens are just so perfect right now that if you get some good birdie attempts, you're going to have a good chance to make some putts out here.

Q. Talor, when you won here, you shot a couple of 62s. Obviously a couple of 63s out there today. How similar would you say the conditions were today on those two rounds that you played a couple years ago?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, definitely felt very similar. Not much wind like we had yesterday, though the wind was a little bit flippy and turny and it was kind of all over the place today.

But yeah, good scoring conditions. When the greens are firm but they're not crazy and the greens are this pure and there's not a whole lot of wind, if you get your ball in the right place, you can go make some birdies, especially when you've got this many great players in the field, this type of place. If you don't got much wind, there's going to be some birdies made out there.

Q. The crowd is very respectful out there today and always is. Did you hear anything funny, or did anything bring a smile to your face the last couple days?

TALOR GOOCH: Playing with Elvis today, you get some funny stuff. Obviously between Elvis and Gooch, you're always going to get some funny stuff.

At this point, I feel like I've heard it all, but then it feels like about every time I'm here, I hear something new.

Man, the crowd here is so great. It's fun. It's respectful. They're knowledgeable, and they're having a good time. It's as good as you could hope for from our perspective.

Q. You mentioned grass; have you checked in with the South African boys with the kikuyu at Steyn City, and what are you making of it so far?

TALOR GOOCH: You know, I haven't talked to the boys about the course yet other than they say it's good and it's at altitude. But yeah, obviously we're excited to go there and see it. Until you actually get there and have some practice rounds, it's tough to imagine it.

Obviously really excited to get there, see the place and see the crowds and see if they can compete with this week for the rowdiest, the most fun. No offense to the Aussies, but I think the South Africans are going to try to take the top spot, which is a tall task at hand.

Q. What do you think is the responsibility of LIV Golf and all you players when you enter new territory like not only South Africa but Africa when it comes to growing the game of golf?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, for us I think it's the little things. It's engaging with the fans, engaging specifically with kids, making sure that you're signing autographs and spending some time there.

We are figures that for junior golfers and for kids that -- it almost doesn't seem real. I remember at least when I was a kid 10, 12 years old and I met professional golfers, all of a sudden it became real. It wasn't just these guys I see on TV. You could touch them, talk to them. It made it real.

I think humanizing us to the kids and kind of making them realize, yeah, we play some decent golf but you could be us, as well, we're no different than you, I think that's powerful for kids.

Then it's on LIV in general just to get more people exposed to the game. I think that's easier when you're going across the world and you're having concerts and you're having music -- the whole package of LIV, I think, is doing a great job of exposing more people that wouldn't normally come to a golf tournament, come to a golf tournament and be like, oh, that looks fun, let me give that a try.

I think it's on the players, it's on all of LIV in general, and it's a responsibility, a duty, and something we don't take lightly. It's an honor to be on the forefront of pushing the game on a global level.