“Jordan Spieth had a breakout season” – Talor Gooch reflects about the major turning point in his pro golf career 

Talor Gooch spoke candidly with Jerry Foltz and Su-Ann Heng during the most recent episode of Fairway to Heaven, an LIV Golf ppodcast. The 2023 LIV Golf Individual Champion talked about his difficult times trying to get the PGA Tour card while competing at Q-School.

When the show's host questioned Gooch about whether he had thought about driving Uber in the early stages of his career to help him with his daily needs, the golfer retorted that while he had never thought of becoming an Uber driver, there had been a period in his life when he had been working hard to go on the PGA Tour but was constantly failing.

During his second attempt at Q-school, Gooch encountered difficulties in the final stage of the qualifying tournament. There were around 14 holes left and he was playing at an average score of 2 over par. Gooch then disclosed that he was sitting on the golf course, contemplating whether or not he had enough money, and that if he was unable to earn the card, he might have to work at Best Buy.

Speaking on the Fairway to Heaven podcast, Gooch said:

"I did not consider driving Uber. It was my second year of doing Q School, going to the final round through four holes. I think I was 1 or 2 over par and so for sure, I'm outside the number now. To advance to the final stage, I only have 14 holes left to get back in it and I'm leaving the fourth green headed to the fifth tee, which is a tee ball. I am not comfortable sitting there; I'm like, 'Well, you don't have any money. You're going to have to go get a job if you don't get your sh*t together. ' And that job is for whatever reason it crossed my mind, I'm like, 'You're going to have to get a 9 to 5 at Best Buy.' "

Gooch clarified that he was upset because he believed Jordan Spieth, with whom he had grown up playing golf, was having the finest career and winning Majors while he was having trouble getting the card. The LIV golfer considered doing a job to fulfill his dream of being a professional golfer. He said:

"I was like, 'You're going to have to sell TVs to fund this dream of being a professional golfer.' I'm sitting there, and I'm just like, 'Jordan Spieth, who I grew up playing with, had like a breakout season in 2015 and played great. ' I'm sitting there watching the kid, who I grew up playing with, winning majors and crushing it. And there I'm sitting there and I'm like, 'And you're going to work at Best Buy.'

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Talor Gooch's professional career

In 2014, Gooch began his career as a professional with the PGA Tour of Canada. After playing on the circuit from 2015 to 2016, he tied for 23rd place in a qualification tournament, which earned him a spot on the Web.com Tour. After competing on the Web.com Tour in 2017 and winning the News Sentinel Open, he placed sixth on the regular money list and was granted a PGA Tour card for the 2018 season. Nevertheless, Gooch's finish in 139th place in the FedEx Cup points meant that he was unable to keep his card for 2019.

Nonetheless, he had a conditional status to compete on the PGA Tour in 2019. In the 2018-19 season, he managed to finish in the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings and retained full exemption on the Tour for the following season. Talor Gooch won his first PGA Tour event in 2021 at the RSM Classic and the next year he joined the Saudi-backed LIV Golf.

2023 was arguably the best year of his career. He won three tournaments in the LIV Golf series and was the LIV Golf Individual Championship winner. He has won five professional tournaments so far, including three on LIV Golf, one PGA Tour event and one Korn Ferry Tour event.