After shooting his second consecutive 10-under 62, Talor Gooch will enter Sunday’s final round of LIV Golf Adelaide with a 10-shot advantage, and barring a final-round disaster is certain to win the 54-hole tournament in a canter.
Despite Gooch’s heroics, his team, RangeGoats GC, are just three shots ahead of Stinger GC in the team competition, and seven other teams are within 11 shots of third-place 4Aces GC, meaning that is still something for the other 47 players to compete for on Sunday’s final round.
Gooch said: “It’s going to drive me even more to be aggressive and to go and put a good round up – not just coast to a win. It’s all to play for as a team tomorrow, so we’ve got to go play some really good golf. We want to be on that podium really bad. I can’t wait to spray Bubba [Watson] straight in the face with champagne, so I’m hoping we can get it done.”
Gooch has certainly got it done through the first 36 holes this week. His 20 under total is the lowest score any LIV Golfer has reached after any round, and his 10-shot lead doubles the previous best 36-hole lead.
The numbers are unprecedented in LIV Golf’s short history, as well as Gooch’s career. Few tournaments in any tour have seen such a domination performance as Gooch has crafted through the first two rounds at the par-72 Grange course.
His closest pursuers are at 10 under are Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Pat Perez, Abraham Ancer and Brooks Koepka. Local hero Cameron Smith is tied 8th on -9.
“I don’t think anybody is catching him,” Koepka said after his second-round 65. “I don’t know if it’s ever happened, especially after two rounds,” added Ancer, who also shot 65. “That’s insane. To shoot 10-unders in a row is unheard of.”
Gooch has 18 birdies and one eagle and has yet to suffer a bogey this week. He has only missed three fairways and one green in regulation, leading the field in both those categories.
“Everything is just going my way,” Gooch said. “I’m hitting the ball where I want it to go. A lot of people have asked the last 24 hours, how did you do it, give me the secret basically. It’s like, if I had the secret, we would write that book and everyone would know it.”
The RangeGoats have never produced a podium finish, but now they’re on the verge of hoisting two trophies in Adelaide. “We’re trying to get that podium for the first time,” Watson said, “but let’s get that podium with a win.”