Taylor Moore Wins First PGA Tournament

Taylor Moore claimed his first PGA Tour victory at the Valspar Championship on Sunday at Copperhead Course. Moore shot the lowest score of the final round with a 67 (-4) to outlast the leaders at the start of the round. Adam Schenk, Jordan Spieth and Tommy Fleetwood were all in contention to start the round, taking turns flirting with the lead throughout. 

Schenk was tied with Moore going into the eighteenth hole but hit a drive off to the left of the fairway into the trees. Schenk managed to salvage his erratic drive off the tee with the chance for a long par-putt. The former Boilermaker had an opportunity to force a playoff with Moore but missed the forty-six foot putt. Schenk finished with a bogey on the hole and dropped to nine under for the tournament. 

Moore will take home a $1,458,000 purse with his victory, an incredibly life-changing amount of money. The Texas native turned professional in 2016 and spent a handful of seasons on the Korn Ferry Tour before earning his PGA Tour card in 2021. Moore suffered brief medical setbacks prior to the PGA Tour which included a collapsed lung, taking him away from the game for an extended period of time in order to recover. 

The win has already paid some dividends for Moore. The Arkansas product rose to ninth in the Fedex Cup Standings and surged fifty-four spots in the OWGR from 103rd to 49th in the world. Moore should be confident moving forward, officially getting the monkey off his back and winning his first tournament. Hopefully this leads to more victories for the third-year pro.