CAN GOOCH SOLVE AMERICA? CRITICAL STRETCH LOOMS FOR POINT LEADER

The RangeGoats GC star has shined on courses played outside the United States. He posted back-to-back wins in Adelaide and Singapore and then added a record-setting third victory in Andalucía, Spain, during LIV Golf’s just-completed European swing. That’s 120 points for the three victories, plus five more in the season opener in Mayakoba and another point in London.

Consequently, that means just 11 of his league-leading 137 points have come in his home country.

With LIV Golf’s next three events set for this week in Greenbrier, next week in Bedminster, New Jersey, and next month in Chicago, the 31-year-old from Oklahoma faces a critical stretch before the regular-season finale in Jeddah.

His lead over London winner Cameron Smith is just seven points, while Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed and last season’s individual winner Dustin Johnson are also within striking distance. That’s four major champions hot on his tail – and each one has performed significantly better in the U.S. than Gooch has this season. Koepka and Johnson, in fact, have already posted wins in the States.

“Golf is hard enough,” Gooch said on the eve of Friday’s opening round at The Old White course. “I don’t need to worry about whoever is behind me or in front of me or anything like that. I need to go try to hit the first fairway, try to make a birdie, and we’ll go from there.”

That process has served him well. So has his Rule of 67 – post a score of 67 or better, and everything else will take care of itself. Of his 27 LIV Golf rounds this season, Gooch has shot 67 or better 11 times. Only Reed with 13 has more.

However, in the U.S., Gooch has met his Rule of 67 just once in 12 rounds – a 3-under 67 in the final round of his home event in Tulsa when he finished 36th in points.

Although America’s famous Route 66 technically didn’t roll through Greenbrier or Bedminster, it did start in the East in Chicago, near the LIV Golf event at Rich Harvest Farms. And it ran close to Gooch’s hometown of Midwest City in Oklahoma.

Not that any of that really matters. The only scenic drives Gooch is concerned with right now are the ones off the tee that lead to those coveted 67s.

“Of course, you want to go win the individual race, so you know you’ve got to play well,” Gooch said. “That’s why I keep saying it’s the rule of 67, because at the end of the day, you can try to focus on everything outside of the golf or who’s following you or the type of golf you’re playing, wherever.

“But at the end of the day, if you take care of your business on the golf course, all that stuff will take care of itself. I know there’s a few tournaments left. I know the position I’m in. But again, I’m just going to go try to shoot a lot of 67s.”

Gooch considers it more of a coincidence that he’s played better outside the U.S. this year, but he also pointed to some potential explanations.

“If you look at the type of golf courses we’ve played in the U.S. versus international, they’ve been a little bit different,” he said. “So, I just think that the type of golf courses we’ve played internationally have fit my game just a little bit better.”

Case in point: the bentgrass greens at The Grange in Australia and Valderrama in Spain provide a comfort level for Gooch, who enjoys that type of surface. Meanwhile, his best putting performance of the year came in Singapore when he ranked first in fewest putts on Sentosa’s TifEagle bermudagrass greens.

“I think geographically where the course is doesn’t matter, except for the type of grass dictated by the geographics,” Gooch said. “Just happens to be we’ve played a lot of familiar types of grasses internationally for me.”

On the flip side of Gooch is his RangeGoats teammate Harold Varner III. LIV Golf’s most recent event in America was in DC, which Varner won by one stroke. Prior to that, Varner had finished solo fourth in Tulsa, shooting a LIV record 61 in the final round.

Varner enters Greenbrier with 81 points, putting him seventh in the standings. With 40 points awarded for each victory, he can’t catch Gooch this week, but he could make a strong push during this final U.S. swing. More than 75% of his points this season have come in U.S. events.

What matters, of course, is where he finishes after the final putt drops in Jeddah. Varner would love to get into the top three, with those positions earning bonus money that could go towards his foundation.

“Every day I look at it,” Varner said about the individual standings. “It’s important. I want to know where I stand. I want to know how I can get to the top, and I think there’s a lot of money to be made up there. I can help a lot of people with a lot of money.”

So can Gooch, who has accelerated his own foundation initiatives since joining LIV Golf last year. But he’ll need to see better results in the U.S. A few 67s this week at Greenbrier would be a nice start.