ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Talor Gooch is the king of the fall portion of the PGA Tour season.
He entered the RSM Classic, the final official Tour event before the calendar flips, having made the cut in all five starts, including two top-5 finishes and a pair of T-11s.
“Over the last two months, I have a hard time thinking anyone is hitting the ball any better,” said Gooch’s swing instructor Boyd Summerhays.
All that was missing for Gooch, 30, was securing his first PGA Tour title.
“When my time comes, I’ll be ready to take it,” he said early in the week.
On a sunny, calm day made for sailing the Golden Isles, Gooch, the 54-hole leader by three strokes, took advantage of his golden opportunity. He birdied two of his first four holes at Sea Island’s Seaside Course to extend his lead to four strokes and laid down the hammer with birdies on three of the first four holes on the back nine to coast to a three-stroke victory at the RSM Classic.
When the wind huffed and puffed and made scoring difficult on Friday and Saturday, Gooch’s stinger drive, a weapon he learned in his youth, served him well as he posted rounds of 65-67. When a caddie asked him at the 18th hole on Saturday about where he developed his low-boring tee shot, Gooch answered, “Oklahoma, we’ve got to learn how to hit that one like that.”
When the wind laid down on Thursday and Sunday and a round of 60 was shot on each day, Gooch shot bookend 64s. He notched his first victory in his 104th Tour start, shooting a 72-hole total of 22-under 260 and leaving Mackenzie Hughes, alone in second under after shooting 8-under 62, barely able to make a dent in his deficit.
“I knew it was going to require a low one today and if you told me I would have shot 62 I thought I might be pretty close, but Talor obviously played great this week and deserved to win,” Hughes said.
In all, Gooch shot in the 60s in 17 of his 24 rounds in the fall, tying Tom Hoge for the most birdies during the fall portion of the schedule with 141. He secured one last circle on the card when he drilled his second shot at the par-5 15th to 15 feet, the closest of any competitor on Sunday, and two-putted from there.
“That was kind of the final topper,” Gooch said. “I was like all right, we’re in a good spot. Let’s just not mess this up.”
Locking in the win.
@TalorGooch finished on a streak of 26 consecutive holes without a bogey. pic.twitter.com/GfGvHR4Mxy
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) November 21, 2021
“He just came out today and said, ‘I’m ready,’ ” said Golf Channel’s John Wood, who walked all 36 holes with Gooch’s group over the weekend and marveled at his elite iron game. “I’ve hardly seen him miss an iron for two straight days.”
Indeed, Gooch didn’t miss a green in the final round until the 14th hole. When he fanned a drive to the right at 16 and had to chip out of trouble, he wedged to inside 4 feet and saved par to cap off a bogey-free final round.
Added Gooch’s caddie Malcolm Baker, “It’s been right on the edge for a long time now. You just knew something good was going to happen soon.”
Tyler McCumber, playing in front of his father, the former 10-time Tour winner, narrowly missed a 53-foot birdie putt to shoot 59. His 60 tied Sebastian Munoz, who finished solo third, for the low round of the tournament and lifted him into a four-way tie for fourth at 15 under.
Gooch, who played his college golf at Oklahoma State, has made steady improvement and the fifth-year Tour pro played this week like a veteran who had won numerous times.
“I want to be the best and I want to compete against the best and I want to be like right now, I want to be the best Oklahoma State golfer on Tour,” he said. “Everyone talks about Matt Wolff and Viktor Hovland, rightfully so, they’re incredible players, but whenever all these other guys are getting talked about, not that I do this for the accolades and all the recognition, whatever, but that’s always a nice little something to kind of get you to work a little bit harder, be a little bit more diligent and try to prove them wrong.”
Talor!!!!!!!!! The kid has arrived. Watch out everyone. Congrats to T and Mal. What a team @TalorGooch @MalBaker12
— max homa (@maxhoma23) November 21, 2021
Baylor’s men’s golf coach Mike McGraw remembers recruiting Gooch back when he coached Oklahoma State. Gooch was the best player by far at this tournament in his home state of Oklahoma, but his attitude needed an adjustment: he slammed clubs, pouted and wallowed with his head down the whole time.
“You know, the whole deal,” McGraw said. “I was recruiting him but I didn’t want to coach that.”
His on-course demeanor bothered McGraw so much that he sent Gooch a five-page hand-written letter telling him that if he decided to come play at Oklahoma State that behavior wouldn’t be allowed. McGraw mailed the letter on a Monday. By Wednesday, Gooch called him and asked for assistance on how to improve his on-course attitude.
“At that moment I thought, now I really have got to get this kid because he’s open to coaching,” McGraw said. “He had some growing up to do but he’s matured so much.”
Gooch always had a bit of a chip on his shoulder said his former college coach, Mike McGraw. Of late, Gooch had been motivated to earn his first victory. He had been texting with his childhood buddies about their annual golf trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, scheduled for the first week of January. But those plans are on hold now. Those dates conflict with the winner’s-only Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua in Maui. After all, being the RSM Classic champion does have its benefits.