Mission Accomplished: Moore's Accomplishment Astounding

By Stuart Hall

Mamaroneck, N.Y. - Ryan Moore's run is complete.

What began with winning the NCAA Championships in May, included triumphing at the Western Amateur and U.S. Public Links in between, came to a dramatic finish Sunday by winning the 104th U.S. Amateur Championship on Winged Foot Country Club's West Course. Moore, 21, of Puyallup, Wash., never led any of the first 34 holes against Luke List, then finished birdie-birdie to win 2 up.

Ryan Moore said the reason why he won was because his putter got hot late. (John Mummert/USGA)

Afterward when Moore stepped forward to accept the Havemeyer Trophy, his friends, family and caddie chanted "Grand Slam, Grand Slam."

The refrain was apropos given he won all of the top amateur tournaments of the summer - the mythical amateur majors, if you will - including the Sahalee Players Championship for good measure. Moore, a rising senior at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, is the first player to ever win the U.S. Public Links and U.S. Amateur in the same year, and one of only four males to win two U.S. Golf Association events in the same year.

In the latter category, Moore joins Chick Evans (1916, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open), Bob Jones (1930, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Open) and Jay Sigel (1983, U.S. Amateur, U.S. Mid-Amateur).

In the hours after winning the U.S. Amateur quantifying Moore's accomplishments against those of a different era may be difficult. But the question is cause for debate: Is Moore's 2004 summer comparable to Jones' real Grand Slam of 1930.

Moore's laid back, in-the-moment demeanor will not allow him to make that comparison, but he will not shy away from it, either.

"I don't know," he said. "That's up to [the media]. If you want to say it is, well, great, I'll take it.

"I played good in the big events this year. That's all I can ask for. I just went out there and I tried to play solid and was able to come out on top in all of them."

Moore's defeated opponents of the last two days, Jeff Overton and List, can appreciate the accomplishment. Overton, a senior at Indiana University, certainly believes he won the all so-called amateur majors, while List, a sophomore at Vanderbilt University, puts in on a different level.

"I'd say one of the most amazing amateur feats in golf is Tiger's three-peat [of winning U.S. Amateur Championships]," he said. "There's so much competition now in the college game and the amateur game with the Mid-Ams and the young guys. It's unbelievable. So to do what he did, my hat is off to him."

The bigger picture debate aside, Moore simply dominated this U.S. Amateur starting on Monday, the first two days of match play qualifying. He followed a first-round 69 on the East Course, with a more impressive 70 on the West Course to win medalist honors.

During his six-win match play run, Moore took control on the final three holes. He played the par-4 16th, 17th and 18th holes 10 times in match play. He won seven of those holes and halved the other three, and credits University of Nevada-Las Vegas golf coach Dwayne Knight for teaching him to bear down in that stretch.

"That's his biggest thing, the last three holes of every round . just to finish strong," said Moore. "My freshman year, I didn't necessarily think that, I was just like 'Oh, any three other holes.' Now I've come to understand those last three holes pretty much make or break you every tournament."

Moore shot 1 over on the final three holes in the third round against Australian Aron Price and won 1 up. Sunday, in front of an appreciative Winged Foot gallery, he played the same stretch of holes in 2 under, including birdies at the 17th and 18th holes.

Moore's comeback began in earnest on the 15th green, when Moore and List put two shots right on top of each other. Moore rolled in a 10-footer that prompted a boisterous "Atta' boy" from his caddie, Kirk Brown. List misread and missed his birdie attempt from 8 feet.

At 16 and 17, Moore was near textbook as he hit both fairways and greens in regulation. On the 16th green, Moore two-putted for par from 35 feet and then watched as List lipped out a 5-footer for par from below the hole.

The match was all square.

On the 17th green, Moore rolled in a 10-footer for birdie - his fifth of the afternoon - while List was unable to extricate himself from the thick rough left of the green and made bogey.

Leading for the first time all day, Moore did not relent. He striped the fairway and then laced an 8-iron from 169 yards to 8 feet above the hole.

Deal done.

"That was my mindset," said Moore. "I knew I had to birdie 17 and 18. I was just able to execute golf shots. I was just trying to keep it one shot of a time, not get ahead of myself and not behind myself either, thinking about missed opportunities earlier in the day. I just executed six really good golf shots coming down the line."

Actually it was five, because after blasting his left greenside bunker shot at the 18th over into more thick stuff on the right, List conceded Moore's 8-footer birdie attempt.

When asked how he was able to execute those shots, Moore had no real answer.

"I just wish I could bottle it up and save it, whatever it was," he said.

In the years to come, Moore will likely wish he could bottle this summer up, as well.

Stuart Hall is a writer for the Golf Press Association.