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Talor Gooch gave himself a belated 30th birthday present Sunday when he captured his first PGA Tour victory in his 104th career start, cruising to a three-stroke victory at The RSM Classic.
Gooch, who celebrated the milestone birthday on Nov. 14, started the final round at Sea Island’s Seaside Course in Georgia with a three-shot edge and maintained it thanks to a bogey-free, 6-under 64 to finish at 22-under 260. He hit 16 greens Sunday and tied the 72-hole scoring record set by Kevin Kisner in 2015.
“I mean, first time winning on PGA Tour, to finish …this fall season like I just did, it’s a dream come true,” said Gooch, who started the week listed at +3300 via PointsBet Sportsbook (-120 ahead of Sunday), while was Scottie Scheffler (T-57) came in as the betting favorite at +1100. “I thought about these types of interviews my whole life sitting in the showers, giving my winning speech, my winning interview, so it’s an absolute dream come true.”
Gooch, who played college golf at Oklahoma State, will enter 2022 as the FedExCup leader and he moved to No. 33 in the world ranking. His RSM win marked his third top-five finish in six starts to kick off the new season (T-4 Fortinet, T-5 CJ Cup), and he finished 11th or better in all of them but one after finishing 60th last week at the Houston Open.
“We had a tough week on the weekend last week and my birthday was on Sunday,” said Gooch, who had made just one cut in four previous starts at Sea Island (T-23, 2020). “We were hopeful, we had talked about wanting to get a win in before I turned 30, but the golf gods like to make you chuckle on occasion, so they wanted to wait until the week after. It is my mom’s birthday today, so it’s a nice little birthday present for her.”
Gooch became the second first-time winner on Tour this season (joining Lucas Herbert, Bermuda Championship), the seventh first-time winner of the RSM Classic and just the seventh player in the last four seasons to hold the 54-hole lead then shoot 64 or lower to win. The other six put Gooch among some lofty company: Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Webb Simpson, Joaquin Niemann and Si Woo Kim.
“I turned pro in 2014 and I didn’t get through Q-School until 2016, so I had a couple years -- let’s just say lean years -- where there’s a lot of doubt that would creep in,” said Gooch, who at one point said he wondered if he’d have to work retail to make ends meet, but now gets a start in a host of events including the Sentry Tournament of Championship and the Masters. He also pointed to a recent coaching change, turning to Boyd Summerhays -- best known as Tony Finau’s coach -- in March.
“I had to learn how to believe in myself in some tough times,” he added. “I was able to get through Q-School and get to the Web.com, which is now the Korn Ferry Tour, in 2017. Then got my card after one year and just started my fifth season on Tour. It’s been a journey for sure and I wouldn’t have it any other way, though.”
Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes, who won the RSM in 2016, rallied with four birdies over his last six holes to card a final-round 62 and finish second at 19-under 263. Hughes has won or finished solo-second three times over his Tour career, with two coming at the RSM Classic.
“I knew it was going to require a low one today, and if you told me I would have shot 62 I thought I might be pretty close,” said Hughes, who was listed at +6000 at the start of the week and +1800 ahead of Sunday. “But Talor obviously played great this week and deserved to win.”
Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz (65) finished third with four players knotted at T-4 including Cameron Smith (64), Tom Hoge (67), Seamus Power (68) and Tyler McCumber, who flirted with 59 with a putt from 54 feet but made par on his 72nd hole to card a 10-under 60 for his career-low score on Tour.
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Morikawa notches double ‘W’ in Dubai, McIlroy’s passion on full display
World No. 2 Collin Morikawa birdied five of his last seven holes Sunday in Dubai to win his first Rolex Series title at the DP World Tour Championship and become the first American to win the European Tour’s Race to Dubai and end the season as Europe’s No. 1.
“It’s so special,” said Morikawa, who won three times during the 2021 calendar year including the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession in February and the Open Championship in July. “You know, I came here last time, first time to Dubai, obviously not having played too many European Tour events, and I told everyone that I wanted to come out here and win: Win the Race to Dubai and win the DP World Tour Championship, and I had it in my control this week. Obviously if I won, I would have sealed the deal, and that’s all I focused on really.”
The 24-year-old California native started the day three strokes behind 54-hole leader Rory McIlroy and went bogey-free over his final two rounds at Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Earth Course, finishing with a 6-under 66 to win by a stroke over England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick (66) and Sweden’s Alexander Bjork (70). His stats on the week provide some insight into Morikawa’s consistency, as he finished first in Scrambling (80 percent), second in Par-5 and Par-4 Scoring (4.38 and 3.83, respectively), third in birdies and Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (+1.87), and sixth in Driving Accuracy (64.29 percent) and SG: Around the Green (+0.46).
But don’t call Dubai a swansong to Morikawa’s fantastic 2021 season, which also included a T-4 at the Tokyo Olympics and his first turn in the Ryder Cup as part of USA’s victorious squad at Whistling Straits. He made it clear that he’s got even loftier goals ahead.
“I’m still not No. 1 in the world,” said Morikawa. “I still have a lot to work on in my game. Obviously, this week was good. I still thought I wasn’t playing amazing, but I made do. … So, I still think there’s a ton to work on. That’s just kind of the nature of how my mind works and how I work: I just want more. I know I’m going to enjoy this one a lot, especially since it’s at the end of the year, but there’s a lot more from me hopefully.”
Rounding out the top five were Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard (67) and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre (71), who finished at T-4 at 13 under.
McIlroy, who started the final round with a one-shot edge, was aiming to become the only player to win the Race to Dubai season finale three times after also winning in 2012 and 2015. But he came undone down the stretch, making bogey on three of his last four holes to finish with a 2-over 74 and T-6 at 12-under 276 with England’s Ian Poulter (67) and South Africa’s Dean Burmester (69).
The Northern Irishman was seeking back-to-back titles after winning the CJ Cup @ Summit last month to kick off the new PGA Tour season, but he hit the flagstick with his chip on 15 and his ball rebounded into the bunker, leading to bogey. McIlroy fell back further following a three-putt bogey at 16 and sealed his fate on 18 when his second shot found the water. He did not speak to media after his round and was seen with his golf shirt ripped across the right side of his chest while in the scorer’s hut.
Tiger breaks internet ahead of Hero World Challenge
Tiger Woods had the golf world abuzz after posting a video to his social media accounts Sunday morning of him hitting a full golf shot on the range at Medalist Golf Club near his home in Hobe Sound, Fla.
The three-second video, which was set on a loop, was captioned, “Making progress,” and showed Woods wearing shorts with a full-length sleeve on his surgically repaired right leg, which had been broken in multiple places in a single car crash in Los Angeles on Feb. 23. There also were several divot marks in front of Woods, indicating that he had hit multiple shots along with the full wedge that was shown in the clip.
While it’s unclear if Woods will attend his Hero World Challenge on Dec. 2-5 in the Bahamas, his name has been on the lips of fellow players recently including Justin Thomas, who shared a brief update earlier this month on the “No Laying Up” podcast: “He’s doing well, all things considered,” Thomas said. Ahead of the RSM Classic, tournament host and recent U.S. Ryder Cup team vice captain Davis Love III noted how engaged Woods was during the Americans’ victorious performance at Whistling Straits.
“He was a big part of our Ryder Cup. It took us a while to get him to the point where he would engage,” said Love, who is also captain of next year’s U.S. Presidents Cup team. “Obviously, he had a rough start to the year, but once we got him in the loop, he was a big help and a lot of fun for the Ryder Cup and for the team.”
Love added that Woods had indicated prior to February’s accident that he was aiming to play on the U.S. team in September, but even if he can’t, there will be a place for Tiger in North Carolina at Quail Hollow Club.
“His role is whatever his role wants to be,” said Love, who made the cut at the RSM for his 571st time on Tour -- the fifth-most of any player (Arnold Palmer is fourth at 574). “If Tiger calls me up and says, ‘Hey, you’re kicked out, I’m taking over,’ that’s Tiger’s role. If he wants to be an assistant, you know. I would hope that he comes back and starts playing and can make that a goal, to be on the team.”
First glance: Hero World Challenge
While we don’t know if host Tiger Woods will be on hand, we do know the 20-player field set for the Hero World Challenge, which returns to Albany in New Providence, Bahamas, the week after Thanksgiving, Nov. 29-Dec. 5.
The limited-field event includes 15 of the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking, headlined by DP World Tour Championship and Race to Dubai winner Collin Morikawa, who is making his tournament debut. Also in the field are 2020 U.S. Open winner Bryson DeChambeau, 2021 Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama and defending Hero World Challenge winner Henrik Stenson.
This year’s field was permanently increased from 18 to 20 players, with Justin Thomas returning for his fourth start at Albany thanks to his win last year at The Players Championship.
Last year at Albany, Stenson dueled with 2019 champion Jon Rahm down the stretch on the final day, with both making an eagle at 15 and two other birdies on their back nine en route to matching scores of 66. The Swede outlasted the Spaniard to win by a shot at 18-under 270.
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