LIV GOLF JEDDAH

October 14, 2023

Talor Gooch

RangeGoats GC

Royal Greens Golf & Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Talor Gooch from RangeGoats GC. Well played today, making a move up the leaderboard, currently tied ninth place at 6-under par. You shot 6-under today. Tell us about your round.

TALOR GOOCH: Anytime you're bogey-tree in these tournaments, it's a good day. Was able to make a couple putts late that kind of vaulted us up the board. I knew I needed to go and have a good day today to have a chance and go win this thing. We were able to do that, and obviously for the team, too, we've got to go make a move. It was nice to put one on the board for the team.

Q. Coming into Jeddah, you have obviously second place in the overall standings behind Cam. As things stand, it's always moving, but there's only a few points separating the top 3. What do you need to do tomorrow to lift that individual championship trophy?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, just continue to try to play like I did today. I think everyone knows what's on the line tomorrow, and that's going to build the intensity of it, but thinking about it and focusing on that is not going to help me.

I'm going to go out there and just try to hit a bunch of fairways, a bunch of greens, and let's just go have a great day of golf and let's see where the chips lay at the end.

Q. We talked this week about looking at leaderboards and whatnot. Is it a challenge for you to not look at what Bryson is doing, what Cam is doing, or are you actually sneaking a peek occasionally during a round?

TALOR GOOCH: No, I'm checking it throughout. You embrace it. This is something that it's such an incredible opportunity, so you've just got to take it in stride and just embrace it, know that -- like I've said the last couple weeks, Bryson and Cam were not going to make this week easy and just let me go, oh, I'll go have a good week and go win this thing. They're incredible players, major champions, and they've proven they can get it done when it matters most.

Seeing Bryson up there playing really well today and seeing Cam around there, too, it was no surprise, and I knew it was going to come down to Sunday. That's where we're at.

Q. Have you looked ahead at all like what Sunday night might be if everything falls your way?

TALOR GOOCH: Not really. I mean, things can change so quick in this game. At the end of the day, this is probably going to come down to the last nine holes, and the last three or four holes, you never know what it's going to be like. That's way too out in the future to focus on. I've got lots of fairways I've got to try to go hit tomorrow, so I'll try to focus on that and then let Sunday night happen as it does.

Q. Can you take us through the team room? Obviously you guys have a chance to get a bye this week. What has been the chatter amongst the RangeGoats?

TALOR GOOCH: Yeah, we've been talking about next week. We've talked about how important this week is to get a bye. I keep saying to them when I talk about, all right, if we don't get a bye, who are we picking, and I keep saying, guys, we're going to play Saturday, we're not playing Friday. That's the focus. Let's go have a great week this week and then we'll figure out who we pick next Saturday.

No, the energy has been good, the vibe has been good. Obviously Harold is playing well. I didn't see how TP and Bubba did today, but we're in a good spot, and I think we're one good day away from getting that first-round bye next week.

Q. You're second in the overall ranking, and today obviously the wind was really strong. Is it something you're comfortable playing in, and is it suiting your game?

TALOR GOOCH: So where I'm from back in the United States, the area I grew up playing golf in, it gets really windy. For me, I'm very comfortable when the wind comes. It doesn't make it easier for me than anyone else just because when you get the wind going, it makes golf challenging. That's part of what makes this week a challenging week. You can't fake it out here when the wind is like that. You've got to go play some really, really good golf.

Even though I'm comfortable with it, it just doesn't make it an automatic just freebie that it's going to be easy for me. I know how to hit shots in the wind and use the wind to my advantage, so I'm comfortable with that, but also, these are 48, 47 other best players in the world. They're pretty comfortable with it, too.