Ryan Moore enjoying stellar year on tour

A hard late charge at the AT&T National four weeks ago gave Ryan Moore a berth in the British Open.

But that shouldn’t have been too surprising. Moore, arguably the greatest player ever to come out of UNLV, has been charging hard all season long.

The 27-year-old is in the midst of a sterling year, with four top-10 finishes among his 17 starts, including the second-place effort in the AT&T, in which he went out with a bang on the Fourth of July by firing a 5-under-par 65 for a 9-under 271 total. That left him just one stroke short of forcing a playoff with Justin Rose, who shot 70 to narrowly hold off the former Rebel.

Moore has missed only four cuts this season, earning just shy of $1.7 million, and risen to a career-best 43rd in the world rankings, No. 32 in the FedEx Cup standings and No. 21 in the United States Ryder Cup rankings. He started the season quickly with top-10s in his first two events, a tie for sixth at the SBS Championship and tie for 10th at the Bob Hope Classic.

"To this point, it probably is my best year," Moore said after the British Open, which represented one of the rare low points, as he missed the cut at windswept St. Andrews "I certainly wasn’t playing as well at this point last year. I’ve been playing a lot more consistent, I’ve made a lot more cuts, and I’ve been in the mix a lot more on Sundays."

The AT&T was a prime example of that.

"That 65 on Sunday was probably my best round of the year, especially for those conditions," said Moore, noting the almost U.S. Open-like setup of the Aronimink Golf Club track in suburban Philadelphia. "Those were really tough pin placements on Sunday. If Tiger Woods doesn’t break par one time all weekend, that should show that it’s not an easy golf course.

"It’s very demanding, which I enjoy. Those are the kinds of courses I wish we’d play more often."

Moore said he felt his strong final round was due.

"I’d been playing good all week, and I finally got it all out that day," he said. "The momentum putts are the tough 6- to 10-foot par putts, and I made a couple of those, which was huge. I did everything I could. I birdied the 17th, and there was only one other birdie (in the final round) on that hole."

Moore’s 2010 success actually dates back to 2009 and a key decision he made late in the season, when he switched to clubs from Scratch Golf. The results were almost immediate, as he tied for seventh in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin, then took third in the big-money HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, China. In a star-studded field, he trailed only winner Phil Mickelson and second-place finisher Ernie Els, finishing three strokes ahead of sixth-place Tiger Woods.

Around the same time as his move to Scratch Golf, he turned to former UNLV teammate Troy Denton to help him fine-tune his swing — a duty he’d previously only entrusted to his father.

"I just decided it was time to get somebody to help, and I’ve played so much golf with Troy that I thought he could be a great help," Moore said. "He’s really helped me straighten things out over the last year. If I look at the statistics, I’m really high up in driving stats — distance and accuracy. I’m hitting a lot of fairways.

"But actually, the biggest thing is my iron play. I’ve had more birdie opportunities. My short game and chipping are what we worked on most at first, and that’s where I’ve made a lot of improvement. It’s nice to see that the stuff we’ve worked on has helped right away and that we’re on the right track."

He was even in good shape after the first round of the British Open, shooting 2-under 70. He shot 84 in the second round, but that score alone doesn’t quite tell the story of how he missed the cut. Moore was surely the victim of a tough draw on tee times, going out in the afternoon of an extremely windy second round. But more so, he was the victim of an odd decision by those at the Royal & Ancient.

"I was early on Thursday and late on Friday, and I would rather have been the opposite," he said. "On Friday, there was a six- or seven-shot difference (between morning and afternoon tee times). It was absolutely absurd. It was so bad that they called us off the course for an hour, then put us back out there in exact same conditions.

"They didn’t let us warm up, and, unfortunately, it rattled me. I was in the fairway, primed for birdie on No. 6. I got pulled off and sat for an hour, and then came back. It just kills your rhythm. I’m not blaming them, but it was some questionable decision-making."

Moore has already put it behind him, though. In fact, his mind was more on another equipment change he made that’s profoundly impacted his game — his shoes. He’s worked with True Linkswear to develop something that suits him, and seems to have found it. "It’s a comfortable golf shoe. I know that’s a mind-blowing concept," Moore said, with a hint of sarcasm. "The shoes are a lot better for my neck and back. I’ve been using them since the Colonial (May 27-30) and had some good finishes.

"It’s been amazing. I’m feeling good on the golf course, and, at the end of the day, I honestly don’t want to take them off."

Now, Moore is hoping that his clubs, shoes, coaching and confidence can all come together and earn him another PGA Tour victory this season — or perhaps a couple victories — to go with his Wyndham Championship title from last August.

"I feel very close right now," said Moore, who is finishing off a short break before playing in six consecutive events. "Winning is funny. Sometimes, wins are few and far between and sometimes they come in bunches. I see week after week a person collapse and just give a tournament away, then I shoot 65 on a Sunday and don’t win.

"But I’m putting myself in position. I’d like to think I won’t win a tournament — I’d like to think it will be more than one."