World of Sports: Ryan Moore

Ryan David Moore (born December 5, 1982) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the PGA Tour. He became known for having a very successful amateur career and later as a professional for not accepting equipment & apparel sponsorships. In November 2009, Moore became a part-owner of the golf equipment company Scratch Golf and played their clubs and sported the company's logo.Moore was born in Tacoma, Washington, and grew up in nearby Puyallup. He graduated in 2001 from Cascade Christian High School, a small Class 1A school which did not have a golf team. Moore competed for Class 4A Puyallup High School, where he lettered all four years (1998-2001). He was the runner-up in the U.S. Junior Championship in 2000, and won the high school individual state championship in 2001 over Andres Gonzales, a future UNLV teammate, then of Capital High School of Olympia. Moore accepted a scholarship to UNLV, where he lettered for four seasons for the Rebels and graduated in 2005 with a degree in communications and public relations.During the summer of 2004 prior to his senior year of college, Moore had one of the most impressive seasons in the modern era of amateur golf. He captured multiple titles, including the U.S. Amateur, the Western Amateur, the U.S. Amateur Public Links (also won in 2002) and the NCAA individual championship.Moore won the Haskins Award in 2005 as the outstanding collegiate golfer in the nation. He placed 13th at the 2005 Masters, winning low amateur and a spot in the 2006 field. (In 2003, he also made the cut at the Masters, finishing 45th at age 20.)In 2006, Moore played on the PGA Tour as a regular member, and his best outing was a tie for second at the Buick Championship in Connecticut. He was sidelined for two months in the spring following surgery on his left wrist, which kept him from competing in the 2006 Masters. He returned to the tour in late May and finished 81st on the 2006 money list with $1,222,118. With a top ten finish (tied for ninth) at the 2006 PGA Championship at Medinah on August 20, he broke into the top 100 in the world rankings for the first time, vaulting from 110th to 79th. He climbed as high as 68th in early September, and finished the year at 79th in the world.In 2007, Moore finished solo second place at the Memorial Tournament, hosted by Jack Nicklaus in early June. He entered the event as an alternate and earned $648,000, the largest paycheck of his brief pro career. With six holes to play, he birdied five consecutive holes (13-17), but scored a par on the 72nd hole to finish one stroke back. Following this runner-up finish, his third as a professional, he climbed from 87th to 33rd on the PGA Tour money list, and his world ranking improved from 110th to 59th. Two days later, he qualified to play in the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont near Pittsburgh, where he shot 8-over in the first round and 3-over in the second and missed the cut by one stroke. He finished the year with $1,544,901 in winnings, ranking him 59th on the PGA Tour money list and 51st in the FedEx Cup standings. Moore finished the year at 74th in the world rankings.

Moore reached the first playoff of his career in the 2008 EDS Byron Nelson Championship, which he lost to Adam Scott on the third playoff hole. Moore began the day three shots behind Scott in a four-way tie for second place, but took the lead as Scott dropped three strokes on the front nine. The lead changed hands multiple times before Scott forced the playoff with a birdie on the 72nd hole. On the third playoff hole, Scott beat Moore with a 48-foot birdie putt; Moore then missed his tying birdie putt from the fringe.Moore picked up his largest check of his career, winning $691,200 for second place. It was his fourth runner-up finish on the PGA Tour in as many seasons.Moore continued to have pain in his surgically-repaired wrist and took time off at different points in the 2008 season because of a sore shoulder and to improve his fitness, particularly in preparation for the FedEx Cup.He ended the year with $1,214,900 in winnings, ranking him 88th on the PGA Tour money list and 87th in the FedEx Cup standings; his world ranking fell to 158.Moore's inconsistent golf continued in the first half of 2009. In his first 16 tournaments, Moore missed the cut eight times, including four times by a single stroke. In March and April, Moore made four consecutive cuts, with two top-20 finishes. In May, Moore only managed one made cut in The Players Championship, where he struggled on the weekend to a 71st place finish, last among those making the cut.Moore had a steady year in 2010, with six top-10 finishes, including a second place finish at the AT&T National. He finished 32nd on the PGA Tour's money list with $2,374,823, 35th in the FedEx Cup Standings, and 45th in the world rankings.He appeared in all four of the golf majors for the first time. Moore also shot the course record of 61 at Tacoma Golf and Country Club.[citation neEarly in his professional career, Moore had sponsorships with PING and Oakley. When he won his first PGA Tour event at the Wyndham Championship in August 2009, he did not have any endorsement contracts other than with Callaway Golf to use their golf ball. Following the 2009 PGA season, Moore signed a deal with Scratch Golf in which he would not only use their equipment, but also become part owner of the company. However, in November 2010, it was announced that Moore had signed a deal with Adams Golf and would give up his stake in Scratch Golf.