WM PHOENIX OPEN

February 11, 2022

Talor Gooch

TPC Scottsdale

Quick Quotes

Q. You put yourself in the mix for the weekend. Just thoughts on your round today.

TALOR GOOCH: It was obviously a fun day. Any time you shoot, I think 7-under, bogey-free on the PGA TOUR you've done some good. And it was just capped off by the birdie on 16 and getting everyone hyped up. So that was fun.

Q. What was the energy like when you had that birdie on 16?

TALOR GOOCH: Oh, there's nothing like it in golf, we all know it. It's such a cliche, but it's so true, there's nothing like it and it's the only time you feel like you're at Lambeau Field or somewhere that's not golf. So it's a fun energy and it gets you hyped up.

Q. Is there a comment, a lot of times it's just kind of white noise but is there a comment that has sort of stood out above the others or an outfit that you've seen maybe on 16?

TALOR GOOCH: Well with a last name like Gooch there's a few comments that you get. The best outfit that I've seen it was actually not from this year it was two years ago maybe, and actually didn't see it on 16 but I saw them, it was a group running to 16 at 6 a.m. and it was a bunch of bananas and then a gorilla. So that was the best, the gorilla chasing the bananas. So that was probably the best.

Q. And what is your sort of little kid sports fancy? Keegan Bradley was in here saying that all the cheering and rowdiness makes him feel like he's at Fenway Park and that was his little kid dream to be at Fenway Park. What would your little kid dream be?

TALOR GOOCH: Man, that's a great question. I guess I don't -- so growing up in Oklahoma pro sports is not, college is king, right? So I didn't have like a pro team of any sport even though I follow all sports closely. I mean for me honestly it's like Lambeau, like I don't know why but that's the closest I can compare to, just like it's iconic in its one way and so that's how this place is.

Q. Do you have to prepare yourself mentally for this week or do you just sort of, how do you get into that mind frame?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah I mean you know what you're going to get, we all love it, but we, I think we all love that it's not a weekly thing, because it's draining, it's a lot, it's a lot of energy and when you're trying to calm your emotions, it's just not the most conducive environment for that. So it's a blast, it's a sprint this week and we love it.

Q. You mentioned calming your emotions. We've had guys talking about bringing yourself down from a high and also getting yourself up when you're struggling. Which is more difficult for you?

TALOR GOOCH: Coming down from a high, for sure. Like once you get -- for me once I get going, my adrenaline is through the roof and it takes a lot to get that anchored back down. So we all watched Tiger growing up and we see these spurts of fist pumps and everything and that was what was so amazing about him was he could do all that and then jump right back into play the next shot. So we all aspire to have that kind of capability.

Q. You mentioned 7-under, bogey-free today. When you compare and contrast with yesterday's round what was it just hitting the ball better, conditions better earlier in the day, what contributed?

TALOR GOOCH: You know, made some putts, that's obviously a huge thing. I made really no putts outside of five or six feet yesterday. So when you make a few putts out here you kind of get some momentum going, that's the -- you know, it's a putt here or there really that makes the difference between a 1- or 2-under and a 6- or 7-under, just that momentum that it brings you.

Q. Writing more so to a general audience, people in Arizona maybe who have never been to the tournament, people who don't know that they're golf fans yet. And I was struck the first time I came out here five, six years ago there was two cactus right off the first tee and they're all pack pockmarked.

TALOR GOOCH: Golf balls in them?

Q. You've noticed.

TALOR GOOCH: Oh, yeah.

Q. Tell me what you see when you see that and what do you think about, because I can't imagine you could think about that, right?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, so a couple things: One, it has to be hit pretty hard to actually go into it. So I would say more of those are intentional than unintentional, because if it's that far off line and it is still is hard enough to stick in the cactus, I don't know how that math works.

But, no, it's always, it makes you chuckle every time. I've had a few friends over the years that we've come out made some trips to Scottsdale and I bring them out here and every single guy I bring out here says the same thing, they notice, they're like, God, look at all those golf balls in that cactus.