Taylor Moore is always looking for an edge. The junior from Edmond, Okla. was like that as a teenager and nothing has changed for the No. 1 golfer at Arkansas.
Rod Moore, his father recalls leaving Taylor at the golf course past dark as he worked on his putting.
“He’d put his cellphone into the cup so he could see it,” said Rod, a solid out fielder for Norm DeBriyn’ baseball teams. “You won der how much you can get done in the dark, but Taylor wanted to do everything he could to get better.”
Moore was the nation’ No. 2 prospect when the Hogs outfought Oklahoma State for his signature Some thought he’d be a one and-done and off to a pro golf career. Now, it looks like he’ll make it through all four years at Arkansas.
“I think he will come back,” said Brad McMakin the Arkansas coach. “I’d just be surprised. But he’s about to go on a winning spree.”
Moore has three top five finishes this spring. Indeed everything is clicking, including improved putting. His wedge play is off the charts after spending long hours in the new chipping and putting facility at The Blessings constructed by Dave Pelz. Moore thanks John Tyson for giving the Hogs the top facility in the country.
“It’s the best,” Moore said. “We can do it all inside, from putting to chipping to lag putting. We love it.”
There isn’t a need to putt at a cup with the light of a cellphone.
“No, but I did that,” Moore said. “It’s about getting an edge. I wanted to do things that I knew the other top players around the country weren’t doing. I lifted weights.”
That was a byproduct of growing up in the home of a coach. Rod Moore coached baseball and football at Texarkana, then at Edmond, before settling into the oil and gas business.
“My dad talked to his players about getting an edge,” Taylor said. “So that’s what I wanted to do. I was lifting weights as a golfer in high school. I knew that Tiger Woods was doing that. I wanted to do everything I could to get an edge. Jordan Speith putts with his eyes closed to practice short putts. It’s about getting an edge.”
Sometimes it’s just about having fun. Taylor loves hanging out with the baseball team. He was a middle infielder on the same travel team as former Arkansas star Brian Anderson. His friendship with Anderson helped him make new friends on the baseball team.
“I’ll just go over to the baseball indoor facility and take ground balls with them,” Taylor said. “I love it. Jackson Lowery had me over there last week, and they were hitting fungos to me. I can still throw it. I’d fire it to first from shortstop.”
So that was a one-time deal?
“No, I get over there a couple of times a week,” he said. “I know a lot of the guys on the team.”
Moore gives much credit to McMakin for his progress on the college circuit. There were swing changes as a freshman. He’s currently switching to a claw grip that seems to have ignited his putting.
“We decided to try it,” Moore said. “It’s worked pretty well the last two tournaments. Adam Scott just switched to it. I like it. I went with it for short putts and then to six footers, and I’m extending it out to 10 feet now.”
The swing is rock solid.
“He did have some things that needed to be changed when he got here,” McMakin said. “My job was to make him better. He’s always been a great student, and he’s had the ability to strike the ball. He’s had four tournaments this spring where he’s had rounds where he hit every fairway, every green. We’ve had to work more on his putting than ball striking this year.
“He is trying the claw. He does everything we suggest. He’s been unbelievable this year.”
Moore leads the team with a 71.4 stroke average, but it’s 69 if you throw out one tournament.
“You throw out Olympia Fields and it’s off the charts,” McMakin said. “He’s having a year like Sebastian Cappelen did last year. He’s on his way.
“What he’s done is grow up mentally. His first couple of years here, he would let the emotions get to him. He’s improved in that area.
“I think he’s going to be a great Tour player. He just needed to learn a few things, and he’s done that.”
Clay Henry is publisher at Hawgs Illustrated, an NWA Democrat-Gazette publication. Reach him at [email protected]