Golf Twitter can be its ugliest when gamblers – angry about their losing bets or fantasy lineups – tweet at a professional golfer for struggling in a particular tournament. Talor Gooch was a recipient of a few messages on social media after missing the cut at the Valspar Championship, but he smartly (and graciously) turned the moment into a positive.
Gooch shot 73-74 to miss the cut by four at the Valspar, but three bogeys in a row through the difficult stretch at the Copperhead course secured his fate to heading home for the weekend. It also sealed the fate of a gentleman’s DFS (daily fantasy sports) lineup, which prompted him to tweet at the former Oklahoma State golfer:
https://twitter.com/TalorGooch/status/1388168268960215046?s=20
Another Twitter user jumped in, tweeting his losing bets on Gooch at the man himself. And Gooch delivered with a fat Venmo payment of $50 (Venmo is a digital wallet that makes money easier for everyone from students to small businesses).
Nice!
He is a man of his word. Thank you! pic.twitter.com/nYMWKeoWrT
— Josiah Blevins (@Josiah_Blevins) April 30, 2021
The bets (below tweet):
https://twitter.com/TalorGooch/status/1388170870351400960?s=20
And he didn’t stop there it appears …
Also have you in DFS and the only one in my lineup to miss the cut.
$10 should suffice for my struggles.
Venmo is @bfarraye #youdontneedaYtobeatalor pic.twitter.com/9lISTlg0ph
— Brandon Farraye (@BFarraye) April 30, 2021
Honestly, a great move by Gooch to turn these negative social-media comments into a positive for his brand.
Of course, Gooch has earned more than $US1.7 million so far this season – thanks to a T-5 at the Players and two other top-five finishes. So good on him to send a few bucks to guys who might need the money a little more than him.
But Gooch should be a little careful – he might be underestimating how many people lost money on him this weekend. This author included … I have a few busted DFS lineups thanks to Gooch. But I won’t tweet at him … but Talor, if you’re reading this, my Venmo is @Stephen-Hennessey. Just saying…