Ryan Moore (golfer)

Ryan David Moore (born December 5, 1982) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the PGA Tour.

Early years

Moore was born in Tacoma, Washington and grew up in nearby Puyallup. He is a 2001 graduate of Cascade Christian High School, a small Class 1A school which did not have a golf team. Moore competed for Class 4A Puyallup High School, where he lettered all four years. He was the runner-up in the U.S. Junior Championship in 2000, and won the Washington high school individual championship in 2001, beating fellow UNLV golfer and Capital High School alumni Andres Gonzalez for the championship. He accepted a scholarship to UNLV, where he lettered for four seasons for the Rebels and graduated in 2005 with a degree in communications and public relations.

2004

During the summer before his senior year of college, Moore had one of the most impressive seasons in the modern era of amateur golf. He captured multiple titles in 2004, including the U.S. Amateur, the Western Amateur, the U.S. Amateur Public Links (also won in 2002) and the NCAA individual championship.

2005

Moore won the Haskins Award in 2005 as the outstanding collegiate golfer in the nation. He placed 13th at the 2005 Masters, winning low amateur and a spot in the 2006 field. (In 2003, he also made the cut at the Masters, finishing 45th at age 20.)

Moore's final tournament as an amateur was the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, which concluded on June 19th. He made the cut and finished tied for 57th, then turned professional, playing the next tournament at Westchester, New York, on a sponsor's exemption, where he finished in a tie for 51st. Turning professional meant that he had to forfeit his slot (as reigning U.S. Amateur champion) in the 2005 British Open, played at the home of golf, St Andrews. In August, Moore earned a special temporary exemption to the PGA Tour with an impressive tie for second at the 2005 Canadian Open in Vancouver.

In 2005, playing on sponsors' exemptions, Moore earned a total of $686,250 in just 14 official PGA Tour events. This placed him the equivalent of 113th on the money list, making him the first player since Tiger Woods in 1996 to go from college to the PGA Tour in the same season without going to Q School. The only other players to do that since 1980 were Gary Hallberg, Phil Mickelson, and Justin Leonard. As a non-member, Moore needed to collect more than the 125th place finisher on the 2005 money list in order to earn his card for the 2006 season. [http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2006/players/profiles/26596.html] During 2005, Moore's world ranking improved from 718 to 142. [http://dps.twiihosting.net/wgr/doc/content/archive/2005/owgr52f2005.pdf]

2006

In 2006, Moore played on the PGA Tour as a regular member, and his best outing was a tie for second at the Buick Championship in Connecticut. He was sidelined for two months in the spring following surgery on his left wrist, which kept him from competing in the Masters. He returned to the tour in late May and finished 81st on the 2006 money list with $1,222,118. With a top ten finish (tied for ninth) at the PGA Championship at Medinah on August 20, he broke into the top 100 in the world rankings for the first time, vaulting from 110th to 79th. He climbed as high as 68th in early September, and finished the year at 79th in the world. [http://dps.twiihosting.net/wgr/doc/content/archive/2006/owgr52f2006.pdf]

2007

In 2007, Moore finished solo second place at the Memorial Tournament, hosted by Jack Nicklaus in early June. He entered the event as an alternate and earned $648,000, the largest paycheck of his brief pro career. With six holes to play, he birdied five consecutive holes (13-17), but scored a par on the 72nd hole to finish one stroke back. Following this runner-up finish, his third as a professional, he climbed from 87th to 33rd on the PGA Tour money list, and his world ranking improved from 110th to 59th. Two days later, he qualified to play in the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont near Pittsburgh, where he shot 8-over in the first round and 3-over in the second. He missed the cut by one stroke. He finished the year with $1,544,901 in winnings, ranking him 59th on the PGA Tour money list and 51st in the FedEx Cup standings. Moore finished the year at 74th in the world rankings. [http://dps.twiihosting.net/wgr/doc/content/archive/2007/owgr52f2007.pdf]

2008

To date in the 2008 season, Moore reached the first playoff of his career in the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, which he lost to Adam Scott on the third playoff hole. Moore began the day three shots behind Scott in a four-way tie for second place, but took the lead as Scott dropped three strokes on the front nine. The lead changed hands multiple times before Scott forced the playoff with a birdie on the 18th hole. On the third playoff hole, Scott beat Moore with a 48-foot birdie putt; Moore then missed his tying birdie putt from the fringe. [http://www.pgatour.com/2008/tournaments/r019/04/27/nelson_rd4.ap/index.html]

Moore has continued to have pain in his surgically-repaired wrist and has taken time off at different points in the season because of a sore shoulder and to improve his fitness, particularly in preparation for the 2008 FedEx Cup. [http://www.pgatour.com/2008/tournaments/r019/04/27/nelson_rd4.ap/index.html] [http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports/golf/story/429374.html]

Amateur wins

*2002 U.S. Amateur Public Links
*2004 U.S. Amateur, Western Amateur, U.S. Amateur Public Links, NCAA Division I Championship, Sahalee Players Championship

Results in major championships

LA = Low Amateur
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

External links

* [http://www.pgatour.com/players/02/65/96/ PGA Tour.com] - official site - Ryan Moore
* [http://unlvrebels.cstv.com/sports/m-golf/mtt/moore_ryan00.html UNLV Rebels.com] - Ryan Moore - profile for 2004-05 season
* [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/golf/2002015610_moore26.html Seattle Times.com] - Ryan Moore: performing like a pro - 26-Aug-2004