Talor Gooch

Father, Ron Gooch, spent five seasons in the minor league system of the Texas Rangers. At age 9, when he won a U.S. Kids Golf World Championship, Talor started thinking about life on the PGA Tour. He grew up playing all sports, but when he was 12 played in the Little League World Series. Many may wonder if Talor's name is a typo, it isn't. His first name is intentionally y-less thanks to a family custom in which his mom's side of the family likes names to be without a "Y." But the tradition isn't exclusive to Talor. His mother's name is "Amber," spelled A-M-B-R-E, and his sister's name is Cassidi, spelled as it sounds but with an "i" rather than a "y" at the end.
Gooch was T-13th during the stroke-play portion of the 2012 U.S. Amateur with rounds of 68 and 71, won his first match, and lost his second to Andrew Presley 1 down. T-2nd during stroke play at the 2012 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship with a 6-under total of 136 that featured rounds of 72 and 64, but lost, 2 and 1, in the Round of 64 to Sam Saunders. T-5th during stroke play in the 2013 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, but lost to Justin Shin in 19 holes in the Round of 64. T-13th in the 2013 Western Amateur, then lost to eventual champion and OSU teammate Jordan Niebrugge, 4 and 3, in the first-round match play. Named first-team All-Big 12 selection as a sophomore in 2012 at Oklahoma State. He was runner-up at the Big 12 Championship with a 3-over 213 that included rounds of 70-69-74. After graduating in 2014 turned professional. Missed the cut in the 2014 FedEx St. Jude Classic.
2015 Notes: Played in 12 Mackenzie PGA Tour Canada Tour events and posted three top 10s. His best finish was T-2nd at the Syncrude Boreal Open after falling to Kevin Spooner in a five-hole playoff. Posted back-to-back top-10 finishes at The Wildfire Invitational (T-6th) and the Cape Breton Celtic Classic (T-4th) to finish the season 17th on the Order of Merit.
2016 Notes: Played again on the Mackenzie Tour in 12 events and made the cut in eight with four top-tens. His best finish was a pair of T-3rds, Freedom 55 Financial Open, and Niagara Championship. Was 15th on the Tour's Order of Merit. At the end of the year went to Korn Ferry Tour Q-School, finishing T-23rd and making that tour for 2017.
2017 Korn Ferry Tour Summary: Tournaments Entered - 22; Rounds Played - 71; In Money - 14; Top-10 Finishes - 5; Scoring Average - 70.11 (Rank 35th); Regular Season Money - $271,316 (Rank 6th); Playoff Money - $8,033 (Rank 84th); Priority Rank - 14; Best Finish - Winner News Sentinel Open. Also runner-up the week before at the Price Cutter Charity. Was able to secure a PGA Tour card for 2018 with a 6th place finish on the money list.
2018 Notes: Played in 27 PGA tour events and made 12 cuts with five top-25 finishes. His best finish was T-13th at the Wells Fargo Championship. Ended the season 139th in the FedExCup standings sending him to the Korn Ferry Finals. He played in all four, and his best finish was T-21st at Nationwide Children's, so he finished 51st in the finals money list and returned to the tour in 2019, playing off the 126 to 150 list.
2019 Notes: Made the best of limited starts, played in 17 PGA tour starts making ten cuts with two top-ten finishes. He was 4th at the Desert Classic with a final-round 64, two shots back of winner Adam Long. The next week was T-3rd at the Farmers Insurance Open, five shots back of winner Justin Rose. The combination of these great finishes kept him in the top 100 of the FedExCup standings and got him into the playoffs for the first time. He finished T-71st at the Northern Trust and was 101st in the FedExCup standings, regaining full status on the PGA Tour for 2020.
2020 Notes: Played in 24 PGA Tour events making 18 cuts with two top-ten finishes. Was 60th on the FedExCup points list. He was T-4th at the Houston Open, three shots back of winner Lanto Griffin. T-10th at the Genesis Invitational. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-18th at the Northern Trust and T-65th at the BMW Championship. During the downtime forced by COVID-19, Talor helped his wife Ally with her new business venture, The Modern Cookie, which bakes and sells cookies.
2021 Notes: Played in 28 PGA Tour events making 21 cuts with three top-ten finishes. He was 68th on the FedExCup points list. He was 5th at the CJ Cup@Shadow Creek, four shots back of winner Jason Kokrak. Shot a final-round 63 at the Vivint Houston Open to finish 4th, four shots back from winner Carlos Ortiz. He was T-5th at the Players Championship, shot a final-round 67, and was three shots back of winner Justin Thomas. In the FedEx Cup playoffs was T-31st at the Northern Trust and T-57th at BMW Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour events making 17 cuts with four top-ten finishes. He was T-30th on the FedExCup points list. His great run started in July of 2021 when his daughter Collins was born. After that, a great fall campaign in six events finished in the top-11 four times. He was T-4th at the Fortinet Championship, four shots back of winner Max Homa. Shot a final-round 66 to finish T-11th at the Shriners Children's. Shot a final-round 62 at the CJ Cup to finish T-5th, four shots back of winner Rory McIlroy. His worst finish of the fall was 60th at the Houston Open. He got his first PGA Tour win at the RSM Classic, shooting a final-round 64 to beat Mackenzie Hughes by three shots. During the week, he thought about how great it would be to win and play in Maui and the Masters for the first time. The win came in his 104th start at age 30 years, 7 days, and moved him to first in the FedExCup standings. Co-led with Billy Horschel going into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, shot a final-round 77, and finished T-7th three shots back of winner Scottie Scheffler. He was T-14th in the Masters, was T-20th in the PGA Championship, missed the cut at the U.S. Open, and T-34th at the British Open. Finished T-4th in the DP World Tour's BMW PGA Championship, two shots back of winner Shane Lowry as the event went just 54 holes due to the death of Queen Elizabeth.
Gooch was born, grew up, and still lives in Midwest City, Oklahoma. One of his local friends is Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto. They have known each other since playing baseball together as 9-year-olds.
2023 Notes: Was T-12th at the PIF Saudi International, T-34th at the Masters and missed the cut at the PGA Championship.