Round 2: Wells Fargo Championship
May 4 2012
4:35 pm
Penalty doesn’t rattle Moore
Interview: Ryan Moore
Following his second-round 70, Ryan Moore meets with the media and talks about the difference between his first two rounds.
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tiger Woods wasn’t the only player who had an unusual ruling on Friday.
Ryan Moore’s didn’t work out as well for him as Woods’ did, either. But even with the penalty stroke at the 11th hole, Moore is still in the tournament, three shots off the lead, after shooting a second-round 70.
Moore’s ball moved after he addressed a 12-inch putt for par which put him in violation of Rule 18-2b. But since an outside agency didn’t cause the ball to move — as was the case for Webb Simpson at last year’s Zurich Classic, which prompted a tweak to the rule during the offseason — Moore was assessed a penalty stroke.
"The (exception) refers to if a wind or an outside agency like a bee or a fly on the green had caused his ball to move, we can get him out if he’s virtually certain that he didn’t cause it, it was the wind or the beetle or the fly," said PGA TOUR rules official Steve Rintoul. "But in this case we’ve got no wind, we’ve got nothing else down there, and the decision specifically refers to gravity.
"If a ball moves because of gravity, that’s just part of the game, just settled. That’s what happened to Ryan, the ball just settled, unfortunately, right after he addressed it."
Moore actually thought he was in the clear, given the rule change last year. Turns out he wasn’t, but he’s still in the hunt for the second win of his career — and the second one in North Carolina. Moore won the 2009 Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, which is about 90 miles down the interstate from Charlotte.
"The ball moved, and not because of me setting into it," Moore said. "My putter face was about ten inches away from it. But because I had addressed the ball, it somehow was a penalty on me. I thought that was the whole point of the rule change after Webb Simpson’s incident last year I thought was to alleviate that because I certainly did not make the ball move, and I thought that was the whole point of the rule change.
"It’s unfortunate that they somehow changed the rules without really changing it. I don’t know how they did that. But yeah, at the end of the day, it’s a little frustrating, ending up one shot worse than I really played. But I’m still really happy with how I’m playing and looking forward to the weekend."
Moore said he didn’t let the ruling rattle him. He played his next seven holes in even par, making one birdie and one bogey.
"For me there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it until the round is over," he said. "I just got my head right back in it, hit a good one the next hole, hit a good second shot right up in there and made a birdie, so that was a nice way to bounce back. Had a good, solid finish to the day."
Moore has been extremely solid tee to green this week at Quail Hollow, too. He’s hit 19 of 298 fairways and 29 of 36 greens in regulation.
"I’m happy with my round," Moore said. "I’m happy with how I played. Obviously I played one shot better than I scored at the end of the day, so that’s a little frustrating. But I hit the ball well again today, putted it really solid, and I’m really looking forward to the weekend."
Round 1: Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard
March 22 2012
5:00 pm
Watch: Moore aces No. 7
Moore aces No. 7
Ryan Moore aces the 201-yard, par-3 7th hole.
News: TOUR Notes
December 27 2011
4:32 pm
Moore invests in Washington courses
Ryan Moore has always been a businessman off the golf course and this offseason has not been an exception.
Moore’s company RMG Golf Course Management has acquired Oakbrook Golf and Country Club in Lakewood, Wa., adding it to its two other courses — Spanaway’s Classic Club and McCormick Woods — in The Evergreen State.
With these holdings, RMG will launch a membership-driven business model on Jan. 1 to bring first-class golf to Washington residents at reasonable prices.
Moore, a full time PGA TOUR member since 2006, picked up his lone TOUR victory at the 2009 Wyndham Championship.
News: Top 100 in 2012
December 11 2011
2:15 pm
Players 61-70 unveiled
Only two wins in 2011 came from Nos. 61-70 that were unveiled Sunday on PGATOUR.COM’s Top 100 Players to Watch in 2012. But that’s not to say there weren’t other triumphs.
D.A. Points’ win at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am was one to remember, a first TOUR win enjoyed alongside funnyman (and winning amateur partner) Bill Murray. Bryce Molder won in the Fall Series with a playoff win at the Frys.com. Bill Lunde enjoyed a season-long title by winning the Kodak Challenge and its coveted $1 million prize.
Kyle Stanley showed himself to be a rookie with staying power, finishing 34th in the FedExCup race, while fan favorite Tommy Gainey had another strong season with four third-place finishes.
Below is a link to each of the 10 players who were revealed on Sunday. PGATOUR.COM will countdown the players for the rest of December, with No. 1 unveiled on Dec. 30.
Be sure to check out this year’s new addition of the Three Wise Men – Chris DiMarco, Arron Oberholser and Craig Perks, who offer their takes on each of the players on the list.
Let’s us know how you think these players will perform in 2012 and whether we ranked ‘em too high, too low or just right.
CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARCHIVE PAGE/SCHEDULE FOR THE TOP 100 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2012
News: Equipment notes
September 7 2011
2:16 pm
Two-putter Jobe, Moore yards, and Phil
By John Schwarb, PGATOUR.COM
If Las Vegas could have put odds on the first two-putter bag on the PGA TOUR, Phil Mickelson probably would have been the even-money choice. After all, he had carried two drivers before.
That didn’t happen at the Deutsche Bank Championship, as Mickelson completely abandoned his blade for a belly. But there was another player on the fence just enough to carry two flatsticks in competition – Brandt Jobe.
As Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press reported, Jobe played the third round at TPC Boston with his conventional putter and a belly. He had used a belly a few years back but hadn’t quite recaptured the feel enough to fly solo with it, so his other putter came along for the ride just in case.
"I’ve been hitting it real good and putting so bad that the last month hasn’t been fun," said Jobe, who’s moving on to the BMW Championship at No. 63 in FedExCup points. "It was getting to the end of the year and I had nothing to lose, but I didn’t want to shoot 80 if it didn’t go well."
Of course, there’s a drawback to a bag that’s 14 percent putters. The club that had to come out, a 4-iron, was dearly missed. Jobe said he needed it four times during the round.
NICE PROBLEM TO HAVE: Lucas Glover, a winner earlier this year at the Wells Fargo Championship, made a ball switch at the start of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. He switched from Nike’s new 20XI ball to the older-model One Tour D.
He said he had been hitting shots too far.
Glover missed the cut at The Barclays, but dialing it back proved the right play at the Deutsche Bank, where he finished T21. He’s No. 45 in the FedExCup standings and will make at least one more Playoffs start.
MUSCLE UP: Ryan Moore isn’t one of the TOUR’s long bombers, so he looked to a beefed-up driver for help at TPC Boston. The Adams Speedline 9088 LDA is designed specifically for Long Drivers of America players, and only made in 5-, 6- and 7-degree lofts.
Moore used a 7-degree model with a high-torque UST Mamiya VTS Silver 6 tx shaft, which he said allowed for increased carry distances. He averaged 298.3 yards off the tee, 43rd-best in the 100-player field. For the season on TOUR he ranks 115th in driving distance, at 288.8 yards.
And, oh yeah, he finished T10 in the event, moving up to No. 39 in FedExCup points.
SMART SNEDS: Brandt Snedeker has become a strong candidate to win the FedExCup since switching from an older set of Bridgestone Tour Stage irons to J40 Cavity Back irons.
He started the Playoffs at No. 18 in points, but consecutive T3 finishes in the first two events have moved him to No. 5.
MORE PHIL: Mickelson’s belly putter was the prime topic of conversation at the Deutsche Bank. Golfweek’s James Achenbach shared the backstory of how it actually got in his hands.
Mickelson wanted an Odyssey Sabertooth model similar to Keegan Bradley’s, but the company doesn’t sell any lefthanded models. (Try finding a lefthanded long putter at your local golf shop.)
Fortunately the Sabertooth’s creator is lefthanded and had one in his office, so the putterhead was taken off and customized for Mickelson with a tungsten weight insert. The head came in at 392 grams and the completed putter was 45 1/4 inches long, an inch and a half shorter than Bradley’s.
Round 1: The Barclays
August 25 2011
: World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational
August 6 2011
11:07 am
Bradley alone at top of leaderboard
AKRON, Ohio – Keegan Bradley seized sole possession of the lead with an 8-footer at the sixth hole.
He’s 11 under now through eight holes and is one stroke ahead of Jason Day. Bradley got up-and-down from just in front of the green at the par-5 second for his first birdie and added another birdie putt of 11 feet at No. 5.
Day also got his round off to a strong start when he eagled the second. The Aussie made a birdie at the fifth hole, as well, and has just made the turn in 2 under.
Bradley started the third round at 8 under and tied for the lead with Adam Scott, Ryan Moore and Rickie Fowler. Scott is now tied with Ryo Ishikawa at 9 under while Fowler has just made his first birdie of the day after opening with consecutive bogeys.
Moore also had back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 4 and 5, and he just added another at No. 8. He’s dropped back to 5 under, as a result, and is tied for 14th.
Round 2: World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational
August 5 2011
5:39 pm
Four share lead after two rounds
The second round didn’t exactly go like the first for Jason Day, who shot an even-par 70 and will enter the weekend one shot off the lead at Firestone.
So what was the difference for Day, who made seven birdies in the opening round but just two on Friday? It started on the tee and trickled down from there.
“Obviously I didn’t have a lot chances to make birdies,” said Day, who hit just 43 percent of his fairways. “I didn’t hit it as straight and if you can’t hit it straight it’s hard to get it close to the hole.”
That led to fewer greens in regulation, which in turn led to more putts, which in turn led to the higher score.
Of course the good news for Day is that he’s still just a stroke off the pace with Ryan Moore, Rickie Fowler, Adam Scott and Keegan Bradley all in at 8 under. Bradley and Fowler, by the way, had the best round of that bunch at 5 and 6 under, respectively.
In all, 16 players are within four shots of the lead and among that group are some big names like Nick Watney, Steve Stricker, Lucas Glover, Stewart Cink and Rory McIlroy.
As for other notables, Luke Donald is 3 under and Lee Westwood 2 under. Martin Kaymer, Bubba Watson and Tiger Woods are another stroke back from that, while Matt Kuchar, Sergio Garcia, Hunter Mahan and Phil MIckelson are all even par.
4:11 pm
Putter change helps Moore
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
AKRON, Ohio — Ryan Moore finally did it. The putter that had looked so good at home finally went into his bag for the Bridgestone Invitational.
The move paid dividends on Friday, too, as Moore shot a 66 at Firestone that lifted him into a tie for the lead with Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler. Making it even better – Moore rebounded well from disappointing finish to the front, where he made three straight bogeys, to shoot a sizzling 30 on the back.
"I think that was a little slap in the face to kind of make me focus a little more and really grind it out on the back nine, and I did, and I started out three birdies back there and a really good par save on 13 and two really good birdies after that," Moore said. "So just kind of got cruising.
"Really could have been a lot lower because I missed about a six-footer on 17 for birdie, maybe the easiest putt I had all day, and just missed it, and then had a great looking putt from about 12 feet on 18 that just missed. It was really good, solid golf on the back side, and looking forward to the weekend."
Moore said the putter was the key to his back-nine surge. He used just 25 total and one-putted his first six holes on the back nine — making five birdies and one par. The birdie putts came from 8, 15, 23, 32 (just off the fringe) and 5 feet.
"So that definitely carried me through there," Moore said.
The putter is the same brand that Moore has been using. But the shaft is different and the head, which is a little bit longer, is black instead of stainless. He thinks it helps with his posture and he likes the new look.
"(I went) back to something that’s a little more traditional for me length wise, and I just feel pretty comfortable over it, standing over it right now," Moore said. "I think my alignment is pretty good, and these greens are rolling really good. If you get in the right spots and put them on the right lines, they’re going to go in, and I was fortunately able to do that on the back side.
"… I’ve had it for a while, and every time I go home it looks good. And I’ve wanted it throw it in the bag, and I finally went ahead and did it this week, and it’s working."
Moore has three top-10s this year, including a tie for second at the Travelers Championship. He’s pleased to be in the mix for what could be his second PGA TOUR victory at Firestone.
"This is where you want to be obviously going into the weekend," Moore said. "… I played two really solid rounds in a row, and I like that. You know, it’s nice to get out and shoot a 7, 8 under. But at the same time, just shooting a couple solid 4-under rounds of golf where I kind of fought through a little early frustration today and still hung in there and had a good back side. And yesterday was just a good, solid all around day.
"Kind of doing it two different ways but two really good solid rounds of golf are a really good way to start off a tournament."
3:10 pm
Fowler provides fireworks Friday
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
AKRON, Ohio – If you were looking for excitement on Friday, you had to go no farther than Rickie Fowler’s gallery.
The distinctive 22-year-old, wearing a lime green shirt and hat set off by blue trousers, made eight birdies and holed a gap wedge for eagle on the way to a 64. That round propelled him into a tie for the lead at 8 under with Ryan Moore and Adam Scott.
“It was a lot of fun today,” Fowler acknowledged. “… I had a couple mistakes out there, made four bogeys, but a lot of positives, a lot of good things came out of today, made some good putts. Building some confidence going into the weekend.”
Fowler started on the back nine and turned in 32 but that was nothing compared with the roller-coaster that followed. He made his fifth and final par at No. 1, then had four birdies, the eagle and a trio of bogeys on the way home.
“It was kind of the whole day was a little up and down,” Fowler acknowledged. “I got off to a start, I think I made three pars and that was kind of my biggest stretch there.
“After that, it was kind of just go, stop for a second, go, stop for a second. But it’s fun. It’s always nice to know that making a lot of birdies is a good thing. There’s always something good to take out of it. I just happened to make a couple of bad swings and mistakes there that cost me a couple strokes, but hopefully we’ll set those aside for the weekend and move on.”
The eagle at the third hole, which came from 110 yards, was just the third there since 1983. Fowler said he hit two “perfect” shots.
“I hit a great drive down there, really couldn’t have hit it any straighter where I was aiming,” Fowler said. “ … Having a wedge in our hand, we’re trying to hit it close and obviously give ourselves a look at birdie. It was going right at it, landed just past the hole, came back, and from my angle knew it was going right down the stick so knew it had a chance, and fell right in the back door.”
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