THE CJ CUP BYRON NELSON

May 21, 2026

Taylor Moore

TPC Craig Ranch

Quick Quotes

Q. 9-under 62, Taylor, first round. How happy are you coming off with that score in the first round here this week?

TAYLOR MOORE: Obviously pretty stoked. I've only played a couple times in the last few weeks, so it was good to get in a rhythm early. 2-under after three, I got into a good rhythm. I was really excited.

Q. What was the expectation coming up here? You came here a few times, one missed cut. You've had a few good rounds here, but the course being a little different, what was the expectation for you?

TAYLOR MOORE: I was kind of curious, I think like everybody, I was going to play a little bit soft with a little bit of rain and the weather and ball in hand. Yeah, total change around the greens. I think the course is in great shape. Obviously played well today, which was a bonus.

Q. Is that the thing that stood out the most, just around the greens and the configuration of the greens?

TAYLOR MOORE: Yeah, and I think the bunkering off the tee too is really good. It kind of fits the eye a little better, I feel like. I think tee-to-green is great.

Then yeah, just a ton of slope around the greens and some run-offs. I think if you're short-sided in the wrong spot, it can be very challenging. I think the greens are still pretty big, where if you're swinging it well, you can definitely hit a bunch of greens in reg.

Q. Sounds like you did a lot of things well today, but is there one thing you really were happy with?

TAYLOR MOORE: I think my distance control coming into the greens. I was really pleased with the iron shots I hit. Birdied a couple of par-3s as well. So I would say just distance control and overall iron play I thought was really good.

Q. Watching you play the last hole, the par-5 9th, you hit it down in the same spot as one of your playing partners. When he hit it first and you see a shot that's similar to yours, what do you learn from that?

TAYLOR MOORE: I think he really had a pretty flat lie and couldn't go high, and he obviously misjudged it a little bit. I was pretty much bumping it the whole time and didn't quite hit it hard enough. Bumping it into zoysia in the green is pretty challenging, but I was lucky it stayed up and had a pretty decent look.

Q. How close did you think it was to coming back to you right there?

TAYLOR MOORE: Really close, a couple of inches. I think it was a little left too, it might have came back to me. I thought I hit a really good second shot, just hit it a little far, and it was a couple steps left. Stoked to see that one go down for birdie.

Q. It's early, but when you're on the 9th tee and a birdie gives you the solo lead, does that matter much? Do you like finishing to take the solo lead?

TAYLOR MOORE: I don't think after the first day. If I was tied for the lead or one shot lead or whatever, ton of golf left to play, especially here. Got to stay with it.

Q. How much of that curiosity, you mentioned, was the course and what you were going to see here?

TAYLOR MOORE: Yeah, it was mostly that for sure. I was really interested to see the green complexes and what they did with some of the tee shots and really the whole thing.

Q. Your season has been pretty steady. Eight cuts off ten starts and one really good finish, runner-up somewhere. How would you assess it? Have you been happy?

TAYLOR MOORE: I've been pretty solid, especially with how I finished last year. I was really pleased how I got off the first two weeks and just didn't really capitalize on the finishes and then obviously didn't play well at Cognizant. Kind of been one nine holes away from having a solid finish.

I think I've been pretty pleased and really just trying to stay patient. You know how it is, got to put four rounds together. So just really building toward that.