Home to Me.

A Tuesday evening in April.

Many of the world’s top professional golfers are preparing for their week - mapping approach lines or studying green complexes or relaxing in their rented homes in Augusta, finalizing their strategy for the year’s biggest golf tournament.

Eight hundred and ninety-six miles from the security gate off Washington Road, the 67th-ranked golfer on the planet welcomes us inside his home. Rather than Pinkertons, we’re met at the door by Knox, a friendlier (and fluffier) version of home security. The Siberian Husky and his owner lead us inside, which could be mistaken for any suburban Oklahoma City home, sans a few minor details. To the right of the entryway – where a study or a formal dining room should be – you’ll find a floor-to-ceiling, glass-encased wine locker that would rival any of the city’s fine steakhouses. Don’t stare too long, or you might trip over the tour bag in the corner of the room. Stuffed with putters, the orange, black and white Callaway bag dons the name of our host in big, bold letters:

TALOR GOOCH

“You guys like wine?” Talor asks as he walks Spencer and me over to the wall of vintages, stuffed to the ceiling with bottles of limited-edition Dom Perignon and aging Napa cabs.

Well yeah, but this is a far cry from the house merlot I order with my fettuccini alfredo at the Olive Garden across from Penn Square Mall. Prying open one of the giant glass doors, Talor reaches high and grabs a Willamette Valley pinot noir.

“I took Wine Tasting my last semester at OSU,” Talor said. “I only needed two electives to graduate and it was only the second or third year they had the class. We learned about the winemaking process for the first couple of weeks and then we just drank a bunch of wine after that. It worked out because we had hot yoga at 6 a.m. on Fridays, so we would drink some wine on Thursday nights, swing by Murphy’s for a bit and then go sweat it out in the morning.”

As he uncorks the bottle and measures out four even pours, we reminisce about memories past. We’re joined this evening by Austin, one of Talor’s closest childhood friends. We realize that all four of our paths had crossed before – at the 2011 NCAA National Championship. Hosted by Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Talor was a freshman on the Oklahoma State Golf team. Spencer held court in the golf shop while I was sweating through my shirt in the cart barn or picking up range balls. Austin followed Talor all week, leading a group of young, rowdy supporters and hecklers at the behest of Talor’s swing coach, Steve Ball.

Whether it was the heckling, the home field advantage or the prodigious play of one of Oklahoma’s finest amateurs, it worked as Talor dominated his match play opponents that week – Ohio State’s Alex Redfield, 4&2 and Augusta State’s Olle Bengtsson, 7&5.

We take in our first notes of the pinot and ask Talor to start from the beginning. Long before the wine and the orange and black, Talor was your typical Oklahoma kid, just trying to make it at John Conrad Regional Golf Course.

“My dad was in the car business when I was growing up and he’d work six days a week, but on Sundays he would go golf with his three brothers and he would take me out there with them so he was literally out there changing my diapers on the golf course,” Talor said.

When his parents were working, he often let John Conrad be his babysitter.

“I grew up literally across the street from the course. There were times when I would just walk down there and spend all day playing. They had this practice green they called ‘Old No. 8’. It was kind of their nursery green but it had an extended fairway leading up to it, so basically inside 80 yards, I just had the run of the place. I didn’t want to go pay two bucks for a bucket of balls every time, so I spent a lot of time bringing my own shag bag and getting a lot of work in there.”
 

It was on tracks like Conrad, Lincoln Park and Lake Hefner that the young golfer grew his game. Fighting through the Oklahoma wind and hardpan, he honed his putter and short irons. The emphasis on his short game worked out, winning 19 individual titles in 40 career events and a state championship in his time as a Carl Albert Titan. More impressively, he was making a name for himself on a larger scale, winning his first national tournament as early as nine years old.

But it wasn’t until he arrived in Stillwater – and Karsten Creek – that his game began to fully develop.

“Walking around Karsten every day, you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. There are a lot of shots that won’t sit well to your eye and you just have to overcome that. When you’re not comfortable with a situation, Karsten forces you to just man up and hit a good golf shot. The par fives are gettable, but a lot of the par fours can play really long and tough, so you have to be pretty precise with your mid-long irons.”

 The wind, the rough and the long walks drove his pursuit for excellence. On a team stacked with All-Americans, Talor managed to start all 13 events as a true freshman. Peaking at the right time, he had his best finish of the year – a tie for third – at the NCAA Regional in Colorado. But the pressure was building for the top-ranked Cowboys, and they were coming home to host the National Championships.

“The previous year, we had lost in the finals and had all but one of our starters returning. In 2011, it was pass or fail. We were easily the best team in the country and you could absolutely feel the pressure. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a great week as a team.”

The adversity for Talor didn’t end with a disappointing loss to eventual national champion Augusta State in 2011. Suddenly, he found himself without the leadership of All-Americans Peter Uihlein, Morgan Hoffman and Kevin Tway. In 2012, Oklahoma State failed to qualify for the national championship, the first time since 1947. The next year director of athletics Mike Holder made a coaching change for just the third time in program history. Mike McGraw, who had recruited Talor since the age of 13, was suddenly heading to Alabama as an assistant coach for the Crimson Tide.

But Talor continued the grind. A senior in 2014, he led the Cowboys back to a national title appearance after defeating Stanford star Maverick McNealy with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 21st hole of their semifinal match. This set up a showdown with Alabama – and former coach Mike McGraw. The Tide rolled to a 4-1 victory, securing their second of back-to-back titles.

“As bummed as we were to not finish the job, I wouldn’t have wanted to lose to anyone else besides Coach McGraw,” Talor said.

As the pinot ran low but the conversation continued strong, Austin uncorked the next bottle on our journey of the vine – a 2009 Granja Remelluri Gran Reserva. A Spanish blend bottled only in the best vintages, this was full-bodied and packed with mouth-watering spices, notes of tobacco and dark fruits. A perfect potation for unpacking the next phase of Talor’s career.

After years of relentless work on mini tours and Q-School, Talor has solidified his position as a PGA Tour member and one of the elite golfers on the planet.

“It’s so cliché, but it’s been a journey,” he said, swirling the wine in his glass and unlocking the warm, expressive aromas. “I’ll never forget the first Q-School I competed in, I played with a guy who was 40-something with a couple kids and this dude is out here grinding. It made me realize that I used to think I worked hard, but this guy is out here and if he doesn’t succeed, his kids don’t get fed.”

“I used to just put the time in and thought I was working hard and things were going to happen. But then it became a balance of everything being tailored to performing at my best, but also not allowing the game to become my identity.”

Talor is grateful for the grind, though.

“I’m so thankful that it took time to get where we are now, because I was not prepared as a person to be on the PGA Tour. I would not have been able to sustain any success at this level, because my life was not ready for it. It’s incredible to see what Viktor and Matt and Morikawa are doing with their sustained success, because when you get out to the Tour it takes a lot more than just hitting a great golf shot.”

With a few years on Tour under his belt, the processes and competition levels are becoming more comfortable to Talor, and that’s apparent in his recent finishes: a top 15 at The Genesis Invitational and three top fives since October, most recently at THE PLAYERS. For the most part, he’s traded in his grind at John Conrad for more appropriate practice facilities at Oak Tree National and Gaillardia Country Club. But the boy from Midwest City stays true to his roots. When he’s home, it’s all about Braum’s burgers and beer rounds with the boys.

With the night running long and their Ted’s Café Escondido delivery getting cold in the kitchen, it was time to wrap things up. But I had one more question – I was curious why Talor didn’t follow the Tour trend of moving to some exotic location like Jupiter or Scottsdale or somewhere income tax doesn’t exist.

“When I’m not traveling, I want to be with my family and friends. This will always be home to me.”