By Paul Myers
Growing up in the greater Seattle area, there was little doubt what Ryan Moore would do for a career. He was an accomplished amateur golfer from a young age, and went on to have an impressive run at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. It was what he did during the 2004 season, however, that put his name permanently on the radar of golf fans around the world.
The 2004 season that Ryan Moore produced as an amateur is simply one of the best in the history of golf. His victories included the NCAA individual championship, the U.S. Amateur, and the U.S. Amateur Public Links. He also took home the title at the prestigious Western Amateur. Any way you look at it, Ryan Moore made golf history with his amateur performance in 2004. The attention that was gained through those wins made him one of the most-anticipated golfers to reach the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods. Thanks to strong performances during tournaments which he entered through sponsor exemptions, Moore was able to obtain full status on the PGA Tour without ever having to take part in Q-School.
Going Strong after 10 Seasons
Moore turned professional in 2005 and has produced a consistently impressive pro career to this point. He has a total of four PGA Tour titles to his credit, and has never finished outside of the top 100 on the FedEx Cup points list. If there is a surprise looking back on Moore’s career to this point, it is his performance in major championships. The success he enjoyed on the biggest stages in golf as an amateur has not translated to his pro career. In 24 major championships as a professional, he has just two top-ten performances. His best finish is a tie for ninth in the 2006 PGA Championship. With that said, Moore is still playing great golf on a regular basis, and his best major championships could still lie ahead.
He Makes Birdies
In order to keep up with the high standard of play on the PGA Tour, you have to make birdies – and that is exactly what Ryan Moore does on a consistent basis. With an average of 4.03 birdies per round, Moore ranks 21st in that category for the 2015 PGA Tour season. Surely contributing to those birdies is Moore’s ability to make putts from 10’-15’. So far this season he has made 29 of 79 putts from this distance, which is good for 36.71% and a rank of 26th. To go along with this impressive performance from 10’-15’ is his consistency from short range – he is yet to miss a putt from inside of 3’ during the 2015 season.
To build a career as consistent as the one Moore has put together, it is important to keep the ball in play as much as possible. While Moore is not a long hitter by Tour standards, averaging 279.3 yards per drive, he does hit fairways with incredible accuracy. So far in 2015, Moore has hit 69.59% of the fairways, which leaves him 17th on the Tour. As every golfer knows, the combination of hitting fairways and making putts can go a long way toward shooting excellent scores.
Rarely do golfers come along with a resume as impressive as the one owned by Ryan Moore. Not only is Moore one of the most-accomplished amateur golfers in the history of the game, he has also gone on to put together a steady, productive career over the course of a decade. Still just 32 years of age, Moore is far from finished as a professional golfer. Currently ranked 31st in the world and 10th in the FedEx Cup, it would not be a surprise to see Moore have a breakthrough in a major championship during the 2015 season.