Talor Gooch a homegrown star

Gooch traded crimson for orange.

Talor Gooch has arrived as one of top PGA Tour stars.

by sam humphreys

At least one Oklahoma native, Midwest City’s Talor Gooch, will be competing in the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club.

It has been rewarding to watch Gooch’s journey from winning national junior events at age 9 to being a PGA Tour winner, FedEx Cup title contender and one of the game’s rising stars.

Mark Felder, executive director of the Oklahoma Golf Association, remembers being introduced to a chest-high Gooch at Shawnee Country Club by his father Ronnie, who noted enthusiastically that he had just shot a 67.

“We figured great, that’s his ninehole score, not too bad for a kid,” Felder said. “So he played with Morri (Rose, director of the Oklahoma Junior Golf Tour) and I for nine holes. Well, he beat our brains out.

“That’s when we realized the 67 was for 18 holes. “

Mike McGraw, then the head coach at Oklahoma State and now at Baylor, got wind of this young talent and went to see him when he was a seventh-grader playing in the Red River Challenge, the season-ending final event at Dornick Hills in Ardmore between the OJGT players and their counterparts in North Texas.

“The first day I watched him, he had on an OU hat, OU shirt and his bag said Sooners on it,” McGraw said. “I told Morri that this kid is a great player, but he’s not very smart to have all that Sooner gear when the OSU coach is following him around.

“As God is my witness, the next day he was playing out of a John Conrad bag and no OU gear to be seen. I guess Morri got to him.”

Though his family members were huge Sooner fans, and he listened to a late pitch from newly hired OU coach Ryan Hybl, Gooch did wind up signing with McGraw and OSU and never missed a tournament, a fact recalled proudly by instructor Steve Ball of Edmond, who worked frequently with him as a youngster and through his early professional career.

“He joined a team that had Morgan Hoffmann, Kevin Tway and Peter Uihlein on it, so there’s three spots gone, and yet never missed a start,” Ball said. “He’s always been really good when his back is to the wall. He’s got that fifth gear. His dad thinks he procrastinates, but he’s clutch.”

Gooch, now 30, has taken a more traditional route to PGA Tour stardom than those shooting to the top of the World Rankings now, the top four of whom at press time were Scottie Scheffler (24), Jon Rahm (27), Collin Morikawa (25) and Viktor Hovland (24).

After OSU, he played two years in Canada, then a year on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2017, where he won the New Sentinel Open, had four other top-10 finishes and earned his PGA Tour card.

In four years on the PGA Tour, Gooch has made a continuous rise in the rankings and broke through for his first win at the RSM Classic in Sea Island last fall. He already had four top-10s and nine top-25 finishes through March during the 2021-22 season and has established himself as one of the most consistent play-

ers on tour.

Not bad for the young man who grew up playing at John Conrad Golf Course in Midwest City and just two years ago was ranked outside of the top 200 in the OWGR.

“Early in 2017, he realized he had to start doing everything better, working out, nutrition, practice habits, all of it,” Ball said. “His Callaway contract was running out and he was about out of money and thinking he might have to get a job. But he did it and he ended up having a great year.” Gooch, who played in his first Masters in April, is eagerly looking forward to representing the state and Midwest City in the PGA Championship. Southern Hills is a favorite venue.

“I’m super, super pumped,” he said. “It’s one of my favorite courses in the world. I played my first U.S. Amateur there as a junior in high school in 2009, and it’s really special to come full circle and be playing a PGA Championship out there.”

Gooch is also finalizing plans for a foundation with intent to give back to

U.S. Kids champ at age 9.

various organizations, with the Oklahoma Junior Golf Tour definitely included. He is hosting a fund-raising tournament at Tulsa Country Club the Monday after the PGA Championship.

Gooch is adamant that he has one simple goal, to be No. 1 in the world.

“I know that everyone probably feels like this, but for me even more so, if I can get the ball in the fairway, we are going to have a good chance of doing some good stuff,” he said. “And so, continuing to work on hitting drivers farther and straighter, that is the goal.

“My irons are solid, and I wedge it decently, so if I can get the ball in the fairway just one more time per round, my caddie, coach and myself think that is the difference between being a 30th or 40th ranked player in the world to top 20 or top 15 just like that. That is my next progression.”

The Gooch family’s life off the course has changed quite a bit over the past couple of years as well, welcoming baby girl, Collins, to the world. While he has lost out on some sleep when he is home, he said being a new dad has helped him with time management, a sentiment to which all parents can relate.

Wife Ally and Collins were at the RSM when Gooch broke through for his first

victory. The scene on 18 was unforgettable as he gave them a huge hug after the biggest success of his young career. That win vaulted Gooch to No. 1 on the FedEx Cup over the offseason, but also got him into his first Masters. He made a trip to Augusta right after the Arnold Palmer Invitational in early March with his best buddy on Tour, Max Homa. Per Augusta National rules, it was just Gooch and Homa along with two Augusta National Caddies. Gooch said, “The most iconic moment that hit me was walking off of 12 green at Augusta, and I look back up to the tee and up 11, and I’m just Gooch with then OSU coach Mike McGraw in the NCAA Championship. like, dude, this is what you see, this is Augusta, this is just how I pictured it, this is the most iconic scene in golf.” – Ken MacLeod contributed to this story.