Mr. Procrastinator Moore Almost Missed Amateur

By Ken Klavon, USGA

Oakmont, Pa. -- In 2000 20-year-old Ryan Moore established himself as an up-and-comer with his runner-up showing in the U.S. Junior Amateur.   Last year he galvanized his place as an elite amateur with a win at the U.S. Amateur Public Links. His quarterfinal finish in the Amateur at Oakland Hills earned him an exemption this year.

He’s played in two U.S. Opens, this year’s Masters, where he played with Arnold Palmer and made the cut. Quite a resume he’s building. On Monday, he carded a championship-best 5-under 65 at the Pittsburgh Field Club.

Impressive stuff, except that he nearly didn’t play this week because of, well, a lapse in memory.

You see, Moore forgot to file his entry application by the July 2 deadline. After returning to his Puyallup, Wash., home from a tournament on the same day, Moore realized his father, Mike, never submitted the application.

“We were panicking, running around the house for about a half hour,” said Moore, making it clear that his father shouldn’t shoulder all the blame. “I was stuck; there was nothing I could do.”

All Moore knew was that it was a faux pas of the worst kind, because he was hoping to make the USA Walker Cup Team (the team was announced Aug. 8). This wouldn’t bode well.

His only hope would be to play well in the U.S. Amateur Public Links, where he lost to eventual winner Brandt Snedeker in the second round. He wasn’t sure what would happen.

Then the call came. He made the Walker Cup Team. And as fate would have it, being selected to the team carries an exemption into the Amateur.

“I didn’t know the Walker Cup would exempt me,” he said. “I’ll take it.”