Mal Baker (left) alongside Talor Gooch part of a formidable team on the LIV Golf Tour.
By Rob Willis
HE had only played in Australia once previously, with Talor Gooch competing in the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Pines back in 2017, however the American golfing star may have benefitted from a different kind of local knowledge in winning the LIV Adelaide event last year.
Gooch was brilliant at The Grange, sizzling back-to-back rounds of 60 setting up a victory in what was LIV Golf’s first tournament on Australian shores.
While he hadn’t played in South Australia previously, Gooch did have some local help, with former Australian tour player Mal Baker by his side, a man with well over two decades of experience carrying his bag.
Frustrated with his own golf game, some 20-years ago Baker convinced friend and fellow West Australian Greg Chalmers that he could capably carry out the role of caddy, to where he now follows Gooch around the tournaments of the LIV Tour.
“I was a little disillusioned at the time, didn’t think my game was getting any better and said (to Greg) why don’t you let me come and do it for a while,” Baker recounted the start of his caddying journey on a phone hook up with Inside Golf from his home in Dallas.
And a new career had begun, with Baker working inside the ropes for Chalmers and others on the PGA Tour before linking with Gooch in March of 2017.
“That year (Gooch) played on the Web.Com Tour. He graduated to the PGA Tour, lost his full card the first year and went back into the 150 category. Then he came out firing, finished fourth at Palm Springs and third at Torrey Pines, so that got him in a whole bunch of tournaments through the year,” Baker said.
“I felt I had a lot to offer. At that point I’d been around the game for 26 years, so we took a chance, and it worked out. And I’d like to think I’m still helping.”
Talor Gooch, an impressive winner in 2023, will defend his LIV Adelaide title at The Grange.
A three-time winner in 2023, Gooch is now one of the leading players on LIV and also the man most talked about when bringing up the subject of players from the breakaway tour not receiving World Rankings points, meaning they are effectively shut out of golf’s major championships.
While largely avoiding the controversy surrounding the rankings system, Baker had no doubt his man had a game to match the very best in world golf.
“I don’t know how you rank guys these days in the current environment but for people who actually know golf, they know the competition on the LIV Tour is really strong every week. There is a core of world class guys, and he competes at the pointy end at most events,” Baker expressed.
“Sharky (Greg Norman) said that after Tiger, Talor is the best iron player he’s seen in the last 20 years, Personally, I think he’s one of the best 15 players in the world,” Baker added.
Despite being without a win through LIV’s first four events of 2024, Gooch has recorded a two top 10’s and an 11th, form putting him in the frame to mount a spirited defence of his title when LIV Adelaide tees off in late April.
“Two of them in a row was pretty special,” Baker said of Gooch’s 10-under par 60’s over the opening two rounds last year. “It was his first real experience of Australian golf. It suits the way he plays the game.
“He’s had a second and a sixth so far this year, but he certainly hasn’t hit his stride yet. Testimony to how good he’s become, he really hasn’t been right on his game, he didn’t have his best stuff in Vegas, but he still managed to finish second.”
And lending a helping hand to Gooch along the way is a 50-something former Aussie professional who is enjoying the ride, with no plans to finish up anytime soon.
“I’m having a blast. I love what I do and I’m still passionate about golf. I love the game. Other than swinging the club, when the gun goes off on a Friday, I still get a real thrill out of the competition,” Baker enthused.
“I plan on doing it for a while yet.”
The post Gooch to lean on ‘local knowledge’ in LIV Adelaide defence first appeared on Inside Golf. Australia's Most-Read Golf Magazine as named by Australian Golfers - FREE.
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