PGA Tour pro Ryan Moore had amateur summer of historic proportions 20 years ago

Ryan Moore has had a couple of memorable occasions as a golfer in Minnesota. The first of those came 20 years ago as part of an amateur season that would have been phenomenal if it hadn’t been actually better than that.

Moore had completed a junior year at UNLV by winning the NCAA men’s individual title in late May 2004.

The crowded summer campaign started with the U.S. National Public Links, which was being played at Rush Creek, Duncan MacMillan’s high-class public course that was in its eighth summer in our west suburbs.

Moore wiped out Dayton Rose 6-and-5 in the 36-hole final, with length and “merciless putting,” according to the Star Tribune’s witness, Jerry Zgoda.

Ryan then added the historic Western Amateur title in early August in Benton Harbor, Mich. The next week, he won the big one, the U.S. Amateur, rallying to defeat Luke List 2-up in the 36-hole final at Winged Foot.

Jack Nicklaus was the lone previous competitor to win the NCAA, the Western and the U.S. Amateur in the same season.

And there was one more shared title in 2004:

The U.S. team of Moore, Spencer Levin and Lee Williams won the World Amateur in Puerto Rico by nine strokes over Spain in late October.

On Thursday, now 41 and in year 19 on the PGA Tour, Moore had the early shift at the 3M Open, making birdie on 18 to conclude a solid 4-under 67 at TPC Twin Cities.

Later, he was reminded this was the 20th anniversary of the Publinks victory at Rush Creek, and was asked:

“What was going on with your game that summer?”

Moore gave a slight nod and said: “Everything was working … driving, short game, and then the putts inside 10 feet, I made almost all of those.”

Different courses. Lots of match play. Moore just kept getting himself within that makeable distance and not missing.

The Publinks title at Rush Creek was his second. He also won the event in 2002, earning him a chance to be in the 2003 Masters and play the first two rounds with Arnold Palmer.

He stayed in college through 2004-05, two reasons being the exemptions he earned to play as an amateur in the 2005 Masters and U.S. Open.

You can find old clips from British golf writers stating Moore swaggered into Augusta that spring saying he was not coming wide-eyed; that he was there to compete for the Green Jacket.

The Brits love that stuff, and Moore did finish in a tie for 13th. He also used his amateur exemption for the U.S. Open and then turned pro.

Nineteen years later, he has won five PGA Tour events, the last of which was the John Deere Classic in 2016. Two of the five came back-to-back in 2013-14 in Malaysia.

The past few years have been rough — rankings above 100 in the FedEx Cup and modest official earnings, by Tour standards.

Moore was asked if he’s hard on himself when things aren’t working on the course.

“I don’t show that very often,” he said. “If I’m upset, I try to keep it inside. What you have to do is work on your game. It really doesn’t do any good to stomp around.”

There’s another reason not to beat himself up on a golf course.

“We have three kids — 11, 8 and 5,” Moore said. “When I’m playing a tournament, I’m going to try to get home [Las Vegas] on Sunday night and not leave for the next one until later Tuesday. I want to be a dad as much as possible.”

The two Minnesota moments for Moore mentioned earlier? The second was when captain Davis Love chose Moore as his last wild-card right before the Ryder Cup was played at Hazeltine in 2016. Moore was having a good year, making over $3 million, but he also was 42nd in the world rankings compared to seventh for Bubba Watson at that moment.

Big controversy — and Love’s explanation: “Ryan’s an easy-going, thoughtful guy, but don’t be fooled. Ryan’s a great match-play player. … We are thrilled to have him with us.”

Moore and partner J.B. Holmes lost in pairs, but on Sunday, with a raucous crowd in a wondrous autumn sun, Moore rallied to defeat Lee Westwood for the point that clinched the Cup.

It was nuts out there, Ryan.

“It certainly was,” Moore said. “I was so fortunate to be there.”

What’s with you and match play?

“I seem to be good at it,” he said.