Defending Valspar champ Taylor Moore has tools to reach game’s elite tier

If anyone has a copy of Taylor Moore’s brilliant approach into the 16th green on Sunday of last year’s Valspar Championship, the third-year PGA TOUR professional would love to have a look at it. He has been unable to find the footage, even though he has the bronzed snake trophy to prove it happened. For now, he will settle for having it etched into his memory along with all the other clutch shots he pulled off down the stretch to capture his first TOUR title last March.

Water lines the right side of the 446-yard, par-4 16th, and tall pines fill the left. It's a hole considered the most difficult of Valspar’s venomous three-hole closing stretch known as the Snake Pit.

Moore managed to hit 9-iron under a tree limb from the pine straw to 25 feet, and he converted the birdie putt. (“I would say that one definitely stands out,” he said, looking back.) He made a scrambling par at the par-3 17th, two-putted for par from 70 feet at the uphill 18th to shoot 67, and then had to wait as a wild finish unfolded behind him. When Adam Schenk and Jordan Spieth both faltered, failing to match Moore at 10-under 274, victory was his. You never forget that first one.

At 30, Moore is back at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course, ready for his encore. He always thought he could win on the PGA TOUR, but it’s nice to validate those ambitious thoughts. Winning delivered some great perks – including a TOUR exemption through 2025 and his first Masters invitation – and eventually propelled him to East Lake for the season-ending TOUR Championship. Moore has been steady if not spectacular this season. He wants more, that’s all.

“He's making some nice changes, and once the driver gets just a little bit better, he can win anywhere,” said Josh Gregory, Moore’s coach of five years. (Moore’s college coach at Arkansas, Brad McMakin, also helps with the full swing.)

“There’s not a weakness in his game,” Gregory said. “When we started, he wasn’t awesome around the greens, and he hooked it too much. Now he’s pretty neutral with his ball flight, hits it pretty straight, and he’s pretty good around the greens. Without a weakness, he’s a guy that’s capable of contending in big-boy events.”

Certainly Valspar is one such event, and not for the timid. Though the field isn’t stacked on the heels of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, a Signature Event, and THE PLAYERS Championship, which doled out $25 million last week, this is one of the better Valspar fields in recent memory. Xander Schauffele and Brian Harman, two world top-10 players who tied for second at THE PLAYERS, are here. So is Spieth, a past champion. And Justin Thomas, Spieth’s Ryder Cup teammate.

The course remains a star, too. Thomas said Wednesday he considers the Copperhead, which even the longest hitters cannot overpower, to be one of the TOUR’s more underrated layouts. Spieth considers the concept – underrated – and said that may be a matter of one’s perspective.

“If you polled players, it wouldn’t even be underrated, because they’d all rate it really high,” Spieth said. “But as far as places people ‘sleep on’ in the midst of majors and PLAYERS and others, it’s an awesome track. And it’s in the best shape I’ve ever seen it.”

The par-71 Copperhead measures 7,340 yards. The rough is thick, and par means something here. The players, including the tournament’s defending champion, appreciate the full test that the venue presents, though rain forecasted for Friday could soften conditions some.

“I enjoy places that typically don’t require 20-plus under to win,” Moore said. “I like this kind of challenge. I would consider it 'old school' just from the aspect that it’s not overly long and you really have to think your way around this golf course.”

Gregory appreciates the maturity he sees in Moore, who paid his dues on the Korn Ferry Tour, where Moore spent five years before graduating. The 5-foot-9 Moore isn’t imposing physically, but he’s a former baseball player who has good hands and plenty of speed, which translates to plenty of length. Part of the journey to improvement on the PGA TOUR comes in knowing when to dial back and hit smarter, higher percentage shots. This season, Moore has yet to miss a cut in seven starts; at the same time, his best finish is T25 (in the shorter-field Sentry).

He is ready to hit the accelerator and get his season going.

“Taylor has really matured in terms of understanding how to be a true pro, and play ‘boring’ golf, and play hard golf courses and do all the things you want as a coach,” Gregory said. “A ton of firepower, but now he’s learning how to play defense when you’ve got to play defense.

“I’m fairly certain that (last year’s Valspar) was his first chance to win with nine holes to go. Being in that spot, nine holes to go, first time, and being able to win, it shows that he’s really tough.”

Thomas played alongside Moore in the early rounds at last year’s Valspar and frankly did not know a whole lot about him. He came away impressed with what he saw. (“Some guys,” Thomas said, “their ball makes a little different sound when they hit it, and the flight and control. And he was definitely one of those guys.”)

Moore and Gregory agree that Moore worked himself into a bad spot after winning the Valspar, as expectations were likely raised too high and too quickly. He contended at the FedEx St. Jude Championship (solo fifth), but when Moore struggled at last year’s final two FedExCup Playoffs events, it probably was a blessing. It told Moore that he had work to do on his swing to become a better player.

This season, the individual parts all feel pretty good to him. He just needs his scoring to come around. He is being patient. He has cleaned up his driving, becoming more accurate off the tee, and transformed himself into a much better last season, finishing 25th in Strokes Gained: Putting. (This season’s early stats have him outside the top 100.) The putts he was making a year ago – he was 64-of-64 from 7 feet and in during Valspar week – haven’t been falling. All in due time, he believes.

Moore still feels the momentum of becoming a first-time PGA TOUR winner at the Valspar a year ago, and he feels only good vibes as he returns. The two previous Valspar champions before Moore – Paul Casey and Sam Burns – each successfully defended their first title at the Copperhead. That’s history that Moore and his coach can embrace. He’ll begin his title defense at 1:23 p.m. ET Thursday alongside Schauffele and Harman.

“It (winning) made him believe that he can do it, that he can be one of the best in the world," Gregory said. "He’s not afraid. He thinks he can be one of the best players in the world, and he’s doing the right things.”

Now, if Moore can only get a video of that shot from the straw that he hit on 16 ...