Q&A with Taylor Moore

Taylor Moore has been able to ride a wave of momentum over the last three years – from his final year at the University of Arkansas, to the first year of Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada, to his debut season on the Web.com Tour – and he’s living up to the adage that momentum is key in golf.

The 23-year-old broke through in a big way on the Mackenzie Tour a year ago, finishing second in the first tournament of the year before notching three more top-5 finishes before the season concluded, with a victory thrown in.

This year Moore has had a very steady start to his Web.com Tour season, having only missed one cut in the first eight events, with his best finish being a tie for eighth at the El Bosque Mexico Championship by Innova, and sits 33rd on the money list.

But Moore almost never played professional golf, having been a stud baseball player growing up.

Moore spent a few minutes with PGA TOUR Digital talking about his fledging baseball career, his season so far, and his time at the University of Arkansas.

You were pretty close to pursuing baseball, and not golf. How did that shake out?

Yeah I was, my dad was a high school and college coach growing up. It was my first love. I thought I would pursue professional, but for whatever reason my dad stopped coaching and I picked up golf and started pursuing that, but baseball was definitely my first love.

What position did you play?

I played shortstop and second base, a little center field. My dad was a center fielder and he threw me out there sometimes.

Did you have a favorite player growing up?

I liked Omar Vizquel from the Cleveland Indians, I really liked him when I saw him. I liked Roberto Alomar at second base. My dad’s favorite guy -- I was somewhat of a (Toronto Blue) Jays fan growing up -- was Joe Carter. He went to Oklahoma, hit the big home run in the World Series (in 1992).

How was it growing up in Oklahoma City?

It was always sports-first. My dad was a coach; my mom was a high school teacher so I was always around that environment. I was always doing something whether it was basketball, football, and baseball, whatever.

When did you know that it was actually going to be golf, and not baseball?

I was in eighth grade, 14 years old. I was slowly starting to pick more golf tournaments over baseball tournaments and from then on it was head over heels, just in love with it.

You had a great season on the Mackenzie Tour a year ago. Do you think you’ve been able to harness that momentum into this year as well? 

The best thing for me was just starting to play right away. I went right from NCAA Championships to there and got into a rhythm, figuring out what pro golf was all like. I got off to a good start there and kept it going through Q-School (note: Moore finished runner-up at the Final Stage of Q-School). I’ve been able to do a good job of keeping that momentum going, and week-in and week-out I feel like I’ve been doing pretty good.

Has there been a lot of learning for you so far?

New golf courses, new places, all that stuff has been a bit of a challenge with the travel and all that, but I’ve tried to adapt to it, and every time I go to a new place I try to play the best I can.

How was your run at the University of Arkansas? Did you enjoy yourself?

I did, I had a great time. I made a couple of my best friends for life down there and we had a bunch of good players and a good team, so it was a great environment to be in.

Now, away from the golf course, what do you enjoy doing?

When I’m home, I just like to relax. I have a little brother in college so it’s nice to see him and hang out there, do family time. I just like watching sports in general, so that’s what you’ll find me doing.

Do you have a favorite baseball team that you’re still following?

One of my dad’s players plays for the (Los Angeles) Angels – Garrett Richards, he’s a pitcher – so I like to watch them. I still like to watch the Jays here and there, so I’d say those are my two teams.