Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - As he wraps up his seventh full season on
the PGA Tour, Ryan Moore is still looking for his first big win.
Moore collected his second PGA Tour victory last week, but it came in a Fall
Series event with a somewhat watered-down field.
His first tour win was more of the same. It came at the 2009 Wyndham
Championship, which was a week after the PGA Championship and a week before
the start of the FedExCup Playoffs.
That is not to demean his first two tour wins, but if Moore were able to do it
at, say, the Players Championship, or one of the four majors, that would be
something completely different.
If Moore could break through in one of the big tournaments, he would throw
himself into contention for a Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup team.
Tie that thought into my column from last week (http://tinyurl.com/9awkssm) and
Moore would be a perfect partner for Tiger Woods. Moore has that same steely
demeanor of a Jim Furyk or a Steve Stricker.
What's more, Moore has a phenomenal amateur record much like Woods.
Moore's summer of 2004 was one of the ages. He kicked it off with a win at the
NCAA Championship. He followed with wins at the U.S. Amateur, Western Amateur
and U.S. Public Links Championship.
Winning those titles is hard enough. In two of those events, Moore beat two
future tour players in the finals. He fended off Luke List, 2-up, at the U.S.
Amateur and bested James Nitties, 1-up in 19 holes, at the Western Amateur.
Another quality that Woods would find appealing is Moore plays well on tough
courses. He won those two titles at Winged Foot and Cog Hill.
Winged Foot has hosted five U.S. Opens and the average winning score is 5-over
par. Woods has won five times as Cog Hill
Unfortunately, Moore is putting his clubs away for the rest of the year, and
for good reason. His wife is due with their first child in three weeks.
What it does though, is halt Moore's momentum heading into 2013. He ended this
season with four straight top-10 finishes. Prior to the win, Moore's year was
steady, but underwhelming.
Moore's best finish had been a tie for fourth at the Arnold Palmer
Invitational, another of Woods' favorite courses. Moore missed the first three
World Golf Championship events, and first three majors.
Next year, Moore will be in those events thanks to his win, and his qualifying
for the Tour Championship.
The only question we'll have to wait for an answer to is, is Moore ready to
win one of the big ones?
DALY CONTINUES TO CONFOUND
John Daly has been living off sponsors invites and past champion status on the
PGA Tour for years now. Last week, all that could have changed.
After two rounds in Las Vegas, Daly was tied for sixth place and just four
strokes off the lead. However, he closed with rounds of 86-77.
Many golfers would have disappeared after either of those rounds. After
shooting 86 to fall out of contention, not only did Daly signs autographs for
fans, he did an interview with Golf Channel.
There are those who don't care for Daly, but at least he has the guts to do
that interview and explain what happened. Take a look at the top 10 in the
world rankings and tell me who in that group would have done the interview?
If he had finished tied for sixth, Daly would have earned over $156,000.
Instead he picked up $8,910 for his 71st-place finish. The difference means
Daly stands 137th on the money list, when he could have climbed to No. 120.
The top 125 on the money list get their tour cards for next year. If Daly
stays where he is, he'll gain partial status for next year, but that's not
what he wants.
Daly wants to snap a winless streak that dates to 2004. That may or may not
shock you, but it has been eight long years since Daly won the Buick
Invitational in a playoff over Luke Donald and Chris Riley.
The PGA Tour needs John Daly as a full-time member. Maybe this will be the
week he breaks through for that elusive victory.
The two-time major champion has battled many demons in his life. A win would
help him stop his biggest fight, the one to get back into the winner's circle.
MINI-TIDBITS
* Woods makes news nearly every time he says something. The other day he
intimated he'd consider joining the European Tour as a full-time member if the
tour included the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup as one of the 13 events counting
toward the tour minimum he'd have to play as a member. Yawn! With the majors
and WGC's, Woods would already be seven events into that 13. Even for Tiger, it
wouldn't be hard to squeeze in six more events.
* If you were voting for the worldwide player of the year, it would be hard to
overlook South Africa's Branden Grace. He has won four times on the European
Tour and twice on the Sunshine Tour. One of those wins counted toward both
tours. He is the only person from a major tour with five victories this
season.
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