Las Vegas, Nevada (July 12, 2010)—To say Ryan Moore, former UNLV standout and one of amateur golf’s all-time greats, doesn’t fit the mold of a typical golfer is an understatement. After all, how many golfers pick up a putter out of a bin the week of a tournament and put it in their bag that week? Ryan Moore did. And, how many golfers turn that putter into a work of art and wind up second in a golf tournament to earn a spot in the British Open? Ryan Moore did.–by Bill Bowman
Moore’s decision to put a new putter in his bag at the AT&T National was a stroke of genius as he one-putted his last eight holes in the tournament. That strong finish gave him a second-place finish in the tournament and a spot in the British Open next week. “I had putted with a center-shafted putter once before,” Moore told the media after the AT&T. “It was actually at the Masters earlier this year, and I actually putted really good, and I'm not sure why I kind of went back away from it. It's not a very natural thing for me to look at. But I went back and looked later, and I led in putting for the week at the Masters, so I was like, well, maybe I should rethink that and try another center-shafted putter. So I grabbed one the other day and it looked great and threw it right in for the pro-am day and rolled it really good. Something about the alignment of it, it's just helping me see my lines a lot better.”
And those lines resulted in a payday of almost $670,000–moving him up to 23rd on the PGA Tour’s money list–to go along with the spot in the British Open. “That's a great bonus, to actually play in a good tournament, and I felt like I was right in there to actually get in the British, which just seems to be eluding me,” said Moore who spent many a round during his UNLV days trying to tame the greens at Southern Highlands, one of more than 50 Las Vegas area golf courses. “This whole year I just haven't seemed to be able to get in it. So that's a nice little bonus at the end.”
But, the British Open will interfere with vacation plans. But, that’s OK with Moore. “It's bittersweet for me because I was actually going to take four weeks off and I was really excited about that,” he added. “But obviously I’m pretty darned happy to be in the British at St. Andrews. You can't get a better spot than that.” And with that new putter in his bag, there’s no telling what kind of putting stats Moore can add to his resume across The Pond.