Talor Gooch is spending his $36,000,000 LIV prize money earnings on a rather unorthodox sport

Talor Gooch was the second highest paid golfer of the 2023 season for his sporting performance, with nearly $36 million in earnings. Gooch leveraged this capital to invest it in a sport quite different from golf.

Gooch purchased one of the two new teams that will be competing in the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) league beginning with the current 2024 season. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the team is named the Oklahoma Wildcatters and is comprised of 12 riders.

The team purchased by Talor Gooch will join the PBR League in conjunction with the New York Mavericks. The latter was acquired by Marc Lasry's Avenue Sports Fund, owned by billionaire financier Marc Lasry, former owner of the Milwakee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The amount invested by Talor Gooch in the Oklahoma Wildcatters has not been made public. However, The Wall Street Journal reported that the bids for new teams started at $20 million each.

About this new venture, Talor Gooch had this to say (via The Wall Street Journal):

"The main goal is how do we take advantage of all of this money that we’re able to make now and turn it into more. The seed money for these new ventures is directly related to how many birdies I’m able to make right now."

The PBR is the largest bull rider association in the world, with more than 500 registered riders. The league consists of several competitions, including the team tournament, founded in 2022.

The team tournament began with eight teams (Arizona Ridge Riders, Austin Gamblers, Carolina Cowboys, Florida Freedom, Kansas City Outlaws, Missouri Thunder, Nashville Stampede and Texas Rattlers). Each team has seven members and five reserves.

Talor Gooch won the 2023 season individual title in LIV Golf, which came with an $18 million bonus. Added to the rest of his earnings for the season, the amount rises to nearly $36 million. Only Viktor Hovland ($38 million) earned more than Gooch for his sports results.

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Talor Gooch in the 2024 season

The 2024 season began for Talor Gooch with his move to a new team, Smash GC. In fact, the fact that Bubba Watson, captain of the RangeGoats GC, traded Gooch to Brooks Koepka's team was one of the most talked about events of the pre-season at LIV Golf.

Gooch has participated in both events that have been held at LIV Golf. At Mayakoba he finished 15th, with a score of 4 under, while in Las Vegas he placed second, with a score of 11 under.

This gave him 30.50 points for the individual ranking of the season, in which he already ranks fourth.

His new team finished seventh at Mayakoba and won the Las Vegas event. With these results, they are third in the season ranking.