LIV GOLF SINGAPORE

April 30, 2023

Bubba Watson

Talor Gooch

Thomas Pieters

Harold Varner

Sentosa Golf Club

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: Okay. Let's welcome the RangeGoats GC, the winner of live LIV Golf Singapore, 2023. Congratulations, guys. We're joined by Talor Gooch, who is also our individual champion. Congratulations, Talor. We're joined by Captain Bubba Watson, Harold Varner III and Thomas Pieters. Welcome, guys. Nice to see you up here. You guys shot a collective 37-under to beat out the Fireballs by three strokes. Looking at the scores it looks like everybody's contributed at some point this week. So we'll start with you, Thomas. Tell us a little bit about your week and what it was like for you out there today? Were you watching the team leaderboard?

THOMAS PIETERS: Very average. I'm like a really solid fourth guy right now. But I just got to work harder. I feel like my game's coming around and I don't think it will be long before I play some really good golf.

HAROLD VARNER III: Don't change anything. We just won.

THOMAS PIETERS: I'm going to change something.

BUBBA WATSON: The next golf course will be perfect for you.

THE MODERATOR: Harold, what did it feel like to be up on that podium today?

HAROLD VARNER III: It wasn't as awesome as I thought it was going to be. I became a target really quickly.

THE MODERATOR: With the champagne?

BUBBA WATSON: Because you didn't know how to open it.

THOMAS PIETERS: He left the metal cap on it.

HAROLD VARNER III: No, but I couldn't see to get it off by the time you guys kept pouring --

BUBBA WATSON: You were crying.

THOMAS PIETERS: You'll know next time.

HAROLD VARNER III: I'll know next time.

THE MODERATOR: As I mentioned, Bubba, everybody contributed this week. How proud are you as a captain right now and what do you want to say to your teammates?

BUBBA WATSON: What I want to say is just thank you. Thank you for stepping up and wanting to be part of the Goats. This is an honor and a privilege to be here and be alongside with these guys. It's special. They wanted to be on the team, they wanted to be on my team and so --

HAROLD VARNER III: You said it would be quick. Make it quick, Cap. (Laughing.)

THE MODERATOR: Talor, you were a workhorse this week. You had another amazing week, obviously. You're the first back-to-back champion in LIV Golf history. Tell us what you're feeling right now, particularly heading into a major championship in the next two weeks.

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, I mean, like I keep saying, we've been talking about being up there on the podium. I've been telling 'em how much how I'm going to spray 'em in the face with champagne for a long time now. We knew it was coming and it was only a matter of time. It's just cool. I was just saying to Thomas, you know, he isn't playing his best golf, but that's what makes this team so good I think is we don't have to all be firing on all cylinders to go out and win. Any one of us at any point in time can go win back-to-back out here.

So we got a really strong team and I think we've turned the corner for the season and looking forward to getting up on the podium more.

THE MODERATOR: Really proud of you guys. Happy to have you up here. I'll kick it over for questions.

Q. Harold, I wanted to start with you first. After the restart you had a couple big birdies, so just wondering --

BUBBA WATSON: Tell 'em about your chip-in that you called.

HAROLD VARNER III: He likes boasting, but there's something I like to keep, but, yeah, but I keep it inside.

BUBBA WATSON: Oh, sorry.

HAROLD VARNER III: So it's really cool, I'm a big person in speaking it into existence. So we come in and earlier this week I was being super negative and Bubba like put his hands down and had his little grunt and he said, We're not going to have this negativity in this team. And I was like, I love that.

So every time we had a delay this week Bubba was like, Hey, give me some good shots. And I walked up to the table and I said, I'm going to walk over there and I'm going to chip this in after we go back. And that's what happened.

So it's a really cool story for the team. Doesn't really matter for media, but to me and, you know, it means a lot because I knew obviously they were counting on my score, but that's what it's all about for me. Just having that moment where you are just like --

BUBBA WATSON: And he saw it.

TALOR GOOCH: And I saw it. I saw it.

HAROLD VARNER III: I looked like, man, we chip it in we might be up. And all I see is, you know, that's all. That's the cool part about the team aspect. I was pretty pissed. We played some great golf in the last two weeks --

TALOR GOOCH: Quit, dog.

HAROLD VARNER III: I'm out. Peace. We done good.

BUBBA WATSON: You're the one who told us to answer fast.

HAROLD VARNER III: You ain't good at it. I was trying to elaborate on it. We're a great team because when tension gets high we know how to talk about it within the team and handle it and I admire that because that's how individuals grow in life. So that's it. I'll cry. I don't care if you cry, you can cry.

Q. Talor, first of all, I noticed before you started each round that you would be off the tee and you were on your phone. I was wondering, is that something you've always done or is that something relatively new, are you getting some type of inspiration off of that or what?

TALOR GOOCH: No, I've always done it since I've been pro basically. My dad isn't able to come out to all the tournaments like back in college golf and amateur and junior golf he would come out to as many as he could. Obviously with the travel being crazy he doesn't get out as often. So kind of made it a routine that no matter where I was in the world I was going to call him before each round. And so 10 minutes before we tee off I just step aside and give him a call and it's just kind of our routine.

Q. What did he say today?

TALOR GOOCH: What he says basically everyday.

HAROLD VARNER III: Go Goats.

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, he just says, Hey, go have some fun. Go hit a bunch of fairways. They can't eat you out there, so go enjoy it. It's kind of pretty boring, honestly, but it's cool and we enjoy it.

HAROLD VARNER III: It's crazy when you get old, you're like Bubba, that simple things matter the most. Thanks, Cap.

Q. What's it like to be on a heater right now like you are? I mean, like obviously the last two weeks, but this stretch is pretty --

TALOR GOOCH: You just try to bottle it up and make it last as long as possible. I know that I'm not going to continue playing this level of golf forever. So you just enjoy it while it comes and try to make it last as long as you can. And when it goes away you try to get back on the train as quickly as possible. So you try to savor these moments and try to feel these feelings and emotions and try to remember 'em so that when they go away you can really get back as quickly as possible.

Q. Last question from me, I asked D.J. this last week when 4Aces got on the podium about the conversation you guys had. He said, You better enjoy Miami, because you'll never get back there. Do you have a response now?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, where's D.J. right now?

HAROLD VARNER III: Oh, love it. Yeah, hey, he's listening. He's a very observant person. You let him know we're coming. He knows. He'll know in Tulsa and that's what we -- to be honest, I don't hate the Aces. I hate that they're really good and we haven't beat 'em. And we did today and I'm super proud of the three men standing next to me. It shouldn't be that animosity, but it just happens in team sports. We beat 'em.

BUBBA WATSON: And we will beat 'em again. They're going to come for us next time.

HAROLD VARNER III: Oh, yeah, they're going to be pissed.

Q. The battle that you had with Sergio today made for some exhilarating watching. What was going through your mind throughout that time when he was coming back, you were there, and that 18th hole the way you played it both the times. Can you just tell us about all these things?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, I mean, these are the days that, like back in Mayakoba I had a lead going into the final round and/or I was tied for the lead going to the final round and I really didn't play that bad. I played fine and it was just one of those days that the golf gods didn't want it to be my time. Today was one of those days where the golf gods wanted it to be my time. I played well and I made a few putts that probably normally don't go in when you don't win. I knew Sergio, after playing with him yesterday, he's playing so good right now. I knew I wasn't going to be able to go down that last hole and make par and not have a chance of winning. I knew that I needed to birdie the last. So I stood up there -- and I don't like that tee ball at all -- and so I just decided I'm going to hit driver, I'm just going to step up and do it. If it doesn't go well then we'll deal with it.

But I hit a hit a great tee ball and hit a great second shot and of course he made a really good putt that you don't want him to -- you're not rooting for him to miss it, but you're not going to be upset if he misses it, you know. But it was just a perfect way to end the day of the regulation golf. Just, we were going back and forth all day. Even yesterday going back and forth all day. And so it was fun, it was special. It's one of those days that I'll remember. I grew up watching Sergio. He's one of the greatest golfers of this generation. To go and battle with him and come out on top is something I'll never forget.

Q. That tee shot on the 18th, was it really as close? It looked really fraught with danger the way you hit it and what we saw on TV.

TALOR GOOCH: I did not hit that where I was trying to hit it.

HAROLD VARNER III: Who cares. Are we supposed to be here? Because I thought --

BUBBA WATSON: They got more questions for you.

HAROLD VARNER III: It's a Talor Gooch interview.

TALOR GOOCH: No, that was closer to the water than what I was intending it to be. So whenever that hit and landed I was very happy.

Q. Can I ask all of you your thoughts about the golf course and which was your favorite hole? And secondly would you like to see more LIV Golf events here in Asia?

HAROLD VARNER III: It's hot.

BUBBA WATSON: The first one is, yes. I mean, I love coming here. This is always good, where people want us to come. The crowd was good. Even with bad weather the crowd stayed around and watched on 18.

TALOR GOOCH: The course is phenomenal.

BUBBA WATSON: The course is phenomenal there's about four tee shots that I really despise, but... I played 17 well. So I like hole 17.

HAROLD VARNER III: I don't have a favorite hole. I was super fortunate to play with a couple guys that gave me the history on Singapore and there's a lot of things that have happened here that, you know, aren't awesome and they told me about it.

Obviously, on the tee on No. 4. So I thought that was really cool. The golf's second. At the end of the day, in 20 years I don't really know who is going to know who wins any tournament in life, but something that happened in 1940, they will never forget. I played with a guy, his grandfather was on that hole when those things happened. So those are important things to me, because you shouldn't forget the things when people lay down their life to make sure they have freedom. So that's what I'll take from Singapore.

THOMAS PIETERS: Likewise, I never been to Singapore and I absolutely love the city. My missus and I have been around the city seeing about everything. Yeah, can't wait to come back. Hopefully we come back next year.

HAROLD VARNER III: That was awesome. You didn't answer that quickly.

Q. Question for Talor. How much is playing on LIV Golf transformed your life, especially with the winner's prize checks you got the past two weeks?

TALOR GOOCH: I wouldn't say it's transformed my life. It was an opportunity and a really cool new venture in golf, right. I mean, it was like Bubba keeps saying, you know, the ability to be on a team week-in and week-out is something special. And I grew up playing sports my whole life and --

HAROLD VARNER III: Real sports.

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, team sports. So the opportunity to be on a team and have this back and forth, have some locker room talk, go to dinners with each other, support each other, push each other, it's, I think it's like Harold will say, that's how you grow in life. That's how you grow as a golfer. That's how you grow as an individual. And so for me that was such a cool and unique aspect for LIV that I was excited about.

So that's been the biggest change and that's probably had the most impact on my day-to-day life as much as anything else.

Q. The massive paycheck that you got the past two weeks, any plans to spend it?

TALOR GOOCH: I think I said last week, Uncle Sam came a couple weeks ago and --

HAROLD VARNER III: Sucks.

TALOR GOOCH: -- was pretty rude to us.

HAROLD VARNER III: Sucks.

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, so, no, this next couple weeks I'll be back home and I'm sure I'll take my wife to a nice little dinner. I might buy her something nice. So, yeah, I don't.

HAROLD VARNER III: Hey, man, don't be slacking off. We need you to carry us, man.

BUBBA WATSON: Better practice. Go home and practice.

HAROLD VARNER III: It might be called the RangeGoats, but it's Talor Gooch and the rest. I'm in. As long as you spray me with champagne like that -- actually it wasn't that cool.

Q. Nice to see you guys up on the podium. I know all of you or many of you have your own personal foundations. Talor, do you have anything planned with your foundation for going into Tulsa?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, yeah, Tulsa's going to be a big week. My foundation focuses on local organizations and impacting the local community and Oklahoma City, Tulsa, the greater Oklahoma area. So we've got a few cool things set up for the week. We're going to have a Monday pro-am to raise a bunch of money for the foundation. A few of the organizations that we work with the last couple years that we've helped out they're going to be there. And so it's going to be cool to see a bunch of the kids from -- one of the organizations we helped out a lot is Positive Tomorrows. It's a cool elementary school essentially for homeless kids. And they're going to be there and we're going to kind of showcase them that week. It's just going to be cool to -- you know, golf is just a vehicle, right. It's something that's going to get us going, get to us where we want to go and to help provide opportunities for other people. And for Tulsa to be the place where LIV is going and for one of the focuses of LIV Tulsa to be the foundation and what we're going to do and to be able to help people, specifically kids, it's going to be a special week for sure.

Q. Just like to know, is this the first time that a team and individual event has been won by the same team and a member from the same team?

THE MODERATOR: No, that's quite common. Bubba, one last one for you. I know you guys do all the hard work on the course, but I had the privilege of working with your team, the team behind the seasons of the RangeGoats. So can you just kind of tell everybody a little bit about what it takes to make a franchise, a team franchise work?

BUBBA WATSON: Yeah, it's tough. You got to get all the guys. First of all, you got to start with the players. Then you got to get the caddies. Then you got behind the scenes. We have right, now on staff we have two people and then we have a social media person just trying to get the content. We're trying to grow a business, right. We're trying to grow a franchise. But not only a franchise, we're also trying to start a league. The league happens hasn't even been around a year yet. So there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes that's going on. Moving us around from country to country, state to state when we get to the United States.

So there's a lot that goes into it. Picking team colors. Right now we're all not wearing the team uniforms. We're working on that. Working on our team uniforms. Hopefully by next January. So there's a lot of things going on behind the scenes that all these other leagues, all these other sports leagues have done for years. So it's easy for them, but for us it's trying to get us all to look the same, enjoy the same kind of foods, enjoy the time together, on and off the course when we're at an event. And, yeah, so it's a work in progress, just like the league is. But we're in a good spot and right now the RangeGoats are on top.

THE MODERATOR: I love it. I think there's one more question.

Q. Last question to you, Bubba, you have been a serial --

BUBBA WATSON: Sorry, a what?

Q. A multiple winner. A serial winner.

HAROLD VARNER III: A what?

Q. What is your appreciation for what Talor Gooch is doing right now?

BUBBA WATSON: It's special. Obviously there's nobody, there's nobody around professional golf that didn't understand Talor Gooch and understand how good he is as a player, how good he is as a person, how good he is as a player. What he wants to do, what he wants to accomplish. So this is something that we knew was coming. Like he said, you make one putt today, you miss the putt next week, you know, you lose, right. So he made some putts this week and helped him win. He made a lot of great shots as well. So this is nothing new. We all believed that he could do this. We knew he could do this. And this is just the start of it, right. When you get a taste of it, you want more of it. Just like we, us three on the podium, we want to get on the podium. He's been on the podium before, last year. So, yeah, we all knew that Talor was who Talor Gooch is and we all know how good he is. Anywhere in professional golf knows how good he is, not just our own team or our own league.

THE MODERATOR: So happy for you guys. Congratulations.

BUBBA WATSON: Did you lose World Ranking points this week?

THE MODERATOR: We'll see you next week in Tulsa.

HAROLD VARNER III: I'm leaving if he starts answering that.