As Talor Gooch stood over his birdie putt on the final hole of regulation at LIV Golf Andalucía on Sunday afternoon, his confidence level was extremely high.
In addition to making a positive stroke, he imagined the celebration afterward when the putt dropped.
“It just felt like I was going to make it,” Gooch said. “Before I even hit the putt, I was already visualising the fist pump that was coming with it. I’m glad it went in.”
? @TalorGooch WINS HIS THIRD #LIVGOLF TITLE#LIVGolf @RangeGoatsGC pic.twitter.com/AFiK336siZ
— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) July 2, 2023
Gooch’s dramatic birdie at Real Club Valderrama gave him a one-stroke victory over a battling Bryson DeChambeau and makes him the first three-time individual winner in LIV Golf’s young history.
Gooch shot a final-round four-under 67 to finish at 12 under, with DeChambeau at 11 under after his two-under 69. Brooks Koepka finished third at nine under.
South Africa’s Dean Burmester shared 14th position on even par after a final-round 69, with Louis Oosthuizen on three over (T24), Branden Grace on five over (T31) and Charl Schwartzel on eight over (T38).
All three of Gooch’s victories in 2023 have come outside his native United States, as he previously won back-to-back events in Adelaide and Singapore to become the first player to win consecutive LIV Golf events.
“Last year I didn’t get a win, so this year I was just so focused on getting an individual win,” said Gooch, who now leads the individual champion race by 27 points over Koepka. “You don’t think much past the first one until you get the first one. I definitely didn’t have three in mind for the season, but it’s cool that we’re here, and it’s especially cool to have the third one here at Valderrama.”
Gooch wasn’t the only three-time winner Sunday. Torque GC, captained by Joaquin Niemann, also won its third team title of the season with a final-round best seven-under counting score to finish at 16 under, five strokes ahead of the RangeGoats, with Crushers GC finishing third.
Niemann and Sebastián Muñoz posted three-under 69s while David Puig contributed a two-under 69. Those three played the last three holes of their rounds in a cumulative four under.
It’s the second consecutive win for Torque, who won last month in DC. Torque are now just seven points behind season-long leader 4Aces GC, who finished fourth at Valderrama.
Gooch is certainly playing great golf as he went toe-to-toe with Major champions DeChambeau and Koepka in the final group. After making his only bogey of the day at the par-four 9th, Gooch was a bogey-free four under on the back nine.
DeChambeau was two strokes ahead at the turn but Gooch caught him with birdies at 10 and 13. They each birdied the par-five 17th to remain tied.
Gooch then hit a brilliant approach shot to 12 feet, while DeChambeau had to navigate trees with his second shot, his ball landing in the rough behind the green. His chip shot set up an easy par, but Gooch made it a moot point by draining his birdie putt.
“My game is obviously in a good state, and I knew if I could get myself in the fairway a bunch, we were going to have a chance to win down the stretch,” Gooch said.
“We just kept plodding along, plodding along, and didn’t really make a bunch of putts. That was the longest putt of the day, obviously, so it was nice to save the best one for last.”
– Edited report from LIV Golf website
