Golf
Ryan Moore performing like a pro

By Craig Smith
Seattle Times staff reporter

MICHAEL KIM / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Ryan Moore watches a chip shot during his U.S. Amateur victory last week. Winning big tournaments has been the norm for Moore the past few months.

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SPANAWAY — Ryan Moore is being compared with golf immortal Bobby Jones this week and is aw-shucksing his way around it.

"If you guys want to put me in the same sentence with him, I'm flattered," said the 21-year-old sensation from Puyallup who won the U.S. Amateur on Sunday.

Moore made the remark while sitting in the restaurant section of the no-frills clubhouse of the public Classic Country Club. His father, Mike, is part-owner and general manager of the course, and his mother, Roxane, often runs the kitchen.

In 1930, amateur Jones won what then stood as the "grand slam" — the British Open and British Amateur and the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open. One writer grandiosely labeled it the "the impregnable quadrilateral."

Moore hasn't won the U.S. or British opens, but he is the hottest amateur golfer on the planet. Golf World Magazine this week calls his summer accomplishments "the greatest amateur season in golf's modern era." His summer of superlatives has included triumphs in the NCAA Championship, U.S. Public Links, Sahalee Players Championship, Western Amateur and the U.S. Amateur.

Winning those titles in a career would be a wonderful achievement, but all of them in a three-month span? Stunning.

Moore has won five tournaments in a row and seven of the past nine. Since last October, 39 of his 41 competitive rounds in stroke play have been par or better.

So where is he headed?

Back to school.

He will be a senior at UNLV and is majoring in communications with an emphasis on public relations, skills he has used all week since winning the Amateur.
 
Moore said he is resisting any temptation to turn pro and try to earn his PGA Tour card for a number of reasons:

• "I made a four-year commitment to the (UNLV) team and the coach, and I don't take commitments lightly."

• He said he feels he can continue to improve as a golfer at UNLV, which is one of the nation's elite college programs.

"If I didn't feel I could progress as a golfer, I wouldn't go back," he said.

UNLV golfers have routine access to wonderful courses, have a team trainer and a professor, Dr. Mark Guadagnoli, who works with them on the mental game.

• Moore says the team has a chance to win the NCAA title.

In returning to college, Moore is following the advice of Arnold Palmer, his playing partner at the 2003 Masters. Palmer's suggestion was to not leave school early and instead enjoy a full college and amateur career.

Moore talked about his game this week and described himself as a "feel player."

"I'll step up on a tee and look, and just know I'm going to hit this to 2 feet (of the cup). I don't know how I know I'm going to do it, but I'm going to do it. I see it, feel it and do it. I follow an instinct, I guess."

Moore's swing is natural and his only instructor has been his father. It helped that the family owned a Tacoma-area driving range, the Linksman, during his first years of competitive golf that began at age 11.

"My swing is functional," he explained. "It doesn't take a lot of energy and it's not real hard on my body. It's a swing that's going to last a very long time. I think that's the beauty of it. It's easily repeatable for me, and it's something I can fix myself now."

Moore takes the club out more to the outside than most golfers, then changes planes and comes inside with a powerful sweep.

An early employee at the range, Joe Beach, approached Mike Moore after working there two weeks and said: "Boss, I've figured out the most important thing I can do for you — keep everyone away from Ryan. That's the most natural golf swing I've ever seen. The best thing we can do is keep the range rats away from him, keep them from bugging him and trying to tell him the 'right' way to do things."

In his first tournament at age 11, Moore drove the green of the par-4 first hole, 240 yards away. It was hardly the first time he stunned anyone. When he was 4 years old, he watched Chi Chi Rodriguez win a Senior Tour event on TV, then entertained a driving-range audience by perfectly imitating Rodriguez's swing.

Moore's phone has been ringing non-stop since his victory Sunday, and invitations have showered him. He will play in a Palmer charity tournament in Detroit on Sunday and Monday. Last night, he threw out the first pitch at the Mariners' game. He hadn't done much throwing since dropping baseball after his freshman year at Puyallup's Cascade Christian High School to concentrate on golf. He batted better than .400 on the varsity.

Moore, the 2001 state 4A high-school champion, played his prep golf for Puyallup High School because Cascade Christian didn't have a team.

Moore's incredible summer has earned him berths in three of the four majors — the Masters, U.S. Open at Pinehurst, N.C. and British Open at St. Andrews.

"That's three golden opportunities to make history again," he said, wondering out loud who was the last amateur to win a "major."

Answer: John Goodman, U.S. Open, 1933.

That's a piece of trivia Moore would like to rewrite next summer.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com