Day in the Life of Ryan Moore: Q&A with a unique personality
By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM Site Producer
Editor's note: As part of our new Day in the Life of Series, PGATOUR.COM's Brian Wacker sat down for an exclusive Q&A with Ryan Moore, who talked about his equipment deal with Scratch Golf, why he thinks he was a better player in college than he is now and more.
Why did you leave Ping, go sponsorless for 2009 and then ultimately sign with little-known Scratch Golf?
If you talked to the people closest to me at the end of that last year, the year before last I just decided that was what was best for me, to just go play golf. It wasn't that I had a bad relationship with the companies I had before. I actually really enjoyed myself and think very highly of the people and the companies. But I thought it was worth it for me to take a year off and simply put clubs in the bag that I thought were going to make me perform better, period. It had nothing to do with 'I'm going to get a bonus this week if I use this driver or this putter' or 'I'm going to get paid this much if I use this iron or use this staff bag.' I wanted to just play clubs because I was confident they were the best for me for a whole year and see what happens.
How much did having an ownership stake in Scratch sway you? How much did that factor in the decision?
It certainly made it more intriguing to me, the possibility that they were open to that kind of outside of the box thinking and that they wanted me involved enough that they were interested and willing to give up part of the company. I like working with people that just simply think that way. They were willing to take some risks and look at things from a different angle and try to make things work. I can't say that was the deciding factor, though. Honestly, if something hadn't worked out I'd probably still be playing their irons and wedges right now. I really would be. I loved them instantly. When I played them, I had five top-10s in a row when I put their irons and wedges into play. You can't argue with that. My greens in regulation went up instantly. And they have the ability to do whatever you want visually. It's just like a kid in the candy store all the time.
Was there a point in your career where you were too worried about what sort of contract you had?
"It became very, very, very frustrating, so much so that I had to take time off sometimes just to not be frustrated."
-- Ryan Moore, on his early struggles on the PGA TOUR
Yeah. The more that I looked at it and the more I assessed what I would be comfortable with and what I would want in a contract, Scratch fit perfectly. The more time I played and used what I wanted to use -- if I want to use a putter or I want to use a driver or I wanted to use the irons or whatever -- I had the best year I ever had last year. I won a golf tournament had a bunch of high finishes, I finished really high in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, which unfortunately didn't count on the money list last year or else it would have bumped me up to 21st on the money list. It also didn't count for Ryder Cup points, which really sucks.
How important is that to you, making the Ryder Cup?
Maybe this is me being naïve and not having played in one, but it's not something that's this driving force at the beginning of the year. That's counterproductive to me. It would be fun and I would be privileged to be on those teams. But simply play good golf, you get on the team, and I don't worry about it much beyond that.
Not a lot of golfers come out of Tacoma, Wash., where the weather isn't exactly conducive to golf.
It's funny, I look back at it now and I go up there in the spring and it's all cold and wet. I didn't travel much when I was younger. You just don't know any better. You get used to living where it's colder and it doesn't even bother you. For me as far as golf up there, it's huge that it makes you get a lot done in short periods of time. You get a really nice day and you don't know if you're going to get two nice days in a week. You get one nice one where it's not raining and you get out there and practice like crazy all day long. I think it really taught me to be efficient. I learned to get a lot done in an hour window.
You didn't grow up as a country club kid either, and you played baseball.
I played baseball as my primary sport for a really long time, but something about golf just kind of grabbed me a little more. I played basketball, baseball, soccer. I played everything through early parts of high school. Something about golf, I just loved it. It all fell on you. It was just up to you and there was no coach who could tell you could play or not play. You're out there and you figure it out. From about when I was a freshman in high school is when I decided to kind of focus on golf and start playing it.
I still played baseball that year and it took up my whole spring, and I played golf like twice in four months because of baseball. I couldn't really play and I went out and was leading some tournament after the first day. I shot 68 and ended up losing it after shooting 75 or 76 the second day. But still, I was like ok, I like doing that. I don't like losing simply because I haven't played and practiced. That was the big thing to me.
You're always tinkering with your clubs, especially the putter. Why?
I'm one of those people who always wonders, who always thinks that there's something that could work better. There are some guys who get a set of clubs and they like it and that's it. I'm always thinking 'Well, what if we did this to it?' In a lot of cases, it worked. Look at my stats this year; I think I'm up 5-6 percent on greens in regulation just by switching the irons and the stuff that fits and that works with my swing a little bit better. That's probably 70 to 80 more greens at the end of the year and that's 70 to 80 birdie chances I wouldn't have had last year. That's huge in the long run.
The Masters is a perfect example -- you bought a $25 putter the week before and put it in your bag at Augusta National.
Exactly. The year before I led in putting or was close to the top in putting at the Masters. And it's encouraging to hear about Mike Gohn and Jack [Nicklaus] working together. They'd worked on a set of clubs just for the British Open because it really does make a difference. Like with my wedges, I have a set of identical log wedges. If you look down at them, you couldn't tell the difference.
One of them has 5 degrees of bounce and one has 12 degrees of bounce for thicker or wetter conditions -- if you don't want to dig and get stuck in the ground, you have a higher degree of bounce. With other companies, you have a 6-degree bounce and a 10-degree bounce and they look completely different. So with them not having to adjust the visual stuff, it's huge.
You had a very good amateur career, won the U.S. Amateur in 2004 then you came onto the PGA TOUR and hurt your hand early in your career. How bad was the hand injury and how bad did it affect you physically and mentally?
I had to make so many adjustments for so long. It's hard to explain how hard it is when your connection to the golf club is disrupted. It's really hard to get everything else to want to work when before you even swing it doesn't feel good. That's what I was battling for the last 2-3 years. The hand, it didn't feel good. It was sore at times, it would hurt during the swing half the time, and then sometimes all of a sudden it would feel just great.
I would go out and play great, shoot 65. The next day I would be all sore. It would be so frustrating. I've never been like that. I've always been a solid, steady kind of guy that's in the mix a lot. I was like that in college. For my last two years I finished outside of sixth place once or twice for two full years. Then I won a bunch of amateur events. Going from that to being injured, feeling good one day, bad the next, good again the next day, it was a roller coaster.
And there was a lot expectation from a lot of people given your success as an amateur.
And there was even more from myself, more than anyone else could have had for me. I felt I could go out there and win golf tournaments. I know what it takes to win golf tournaments. I watch, I understand it. I know now what it takes and I believe I would have won golf tournaments if I just physically felt ok over any of my golf shots. It wears you out. It just wears you out mentally a lot faster. You play so much more golf on the PGA TOUR than you play at any other level -- it triples, quadruples once you're on the TOUR and it's way more intense golf all the time because you make a bogey or a double you can drop 25 spots on a Saturday or Sunday.
It became very, very, very frustrating, so much so that I had to take time off sometimes just to not be frustrated. And I would get recharged and go out and I would always play good right away after I had done that. It was a good decision a few times to not be beating my head against the wall for a few weeks because that's what I was doing out there so often. I was mentally in it, and I felt like I could go out there and perform, and I just couldn't do it. It's been feeling better for the last year finally. I feel like my hand is back on the golf club like it used to be. For a full 2-3 years I had to weaken my grip. I just had to do it. I didn't have any other choice.
One player told me it's a 'man's game,' that it's unforgiving.
It really is. There's a reason it's the PGA TOUR. It's the best tour in the world. It's intense and it doesn't care. You're injured? Deal with it. Don't play then.
You have some guarantees, but it's not like baseball, which has guaranteed contracts.
Exactly. Every single year you have to prove yourself. I think that's the beauty of the game, but it's also what can be so frustrating at times having done great things and earned a lot, and it's like 'Well, too bad. See if you can do it again.' Looking back at it, I'm proud of myself for dealing with it and fighting through it and playing golf the best I could at the time. I almost won three or four times not feeling that good and not really being in the mix. It still kept me going because I'd get close to the lead sometimes and I'd feel like my old self again.
Did you ever think about quitting?
Oh yeah. It's been that low a quite a few times. Just to the point of me questioning am I always going to have to play like I'm playing right now. Maybe some people will disagree, but I was a far better golfer when I was a senior in college. I was. I know how good I am right now and how good I was then. I was a way better golfer at that point.
I definitely had the thought go by that I don't think I can handle a lot more years like this. And people might say what a whining baby, you're out there playing golf for a living, making good money and couldn't handle it or whatever. But there's a certain life -- I know what I'm capable of and honestly for a long time I was just not physically capable with that and it drove me crazy. I'd be standing over these shots and I know I can hit these shots. I've hit this shot 100 times before. It was so frustrating. I've done it. I've proven I can compete with the best players in the world so it was really hard going from knowing that to struggling to make the cut. That is not me. That wore me out more than anything.
It's difficult sometimes and hard to relay that to somebody who hasn't experienced it and been out there week to week to week. People watch us Thursday through Sunday and just assume we get to go home Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, hang out and then show back up there Thursday morning and play again. I explained it to people I know; I leave Sunday night, get to the next place and am practicing the next Monday at the next golf course. I don't get to go home. I don't get to see my friends and my family very often.
That stuff can definitely wear on you over time. And for me it was debatable. Was it worth it to be that frustrated doing what I'm doing and giving up family and friendships and stuff like that. I definitely had a fresh approach at the end of last year and leading into this year. It's really encouraging to see it going in that direction. For the first time I don't feel like I'm just, you know ...
Do you still feel that way, about being a better player then compared to now?
Definitely. But I'm actually gaining very quickly right now. I've got a lot of momentum this year that I haven't quite felt in the past years and I feel I'm pretty darn close right now to the way I used to be. Things are feeling a lot more comfortable, more consistent when I get out on the golf course. It just feels different. Every single day, and this year it's starting to feel the same week after week after week.
And then you finally won last year at the Wyndham Championship.
It was nice to have a tournament work out for me. A few times I had been right in the mix and on tough courses. I'd finish really strong. At the Memorial tournament, I think it was K.J. Choi who had three holes to play and goes up-and-down for par the last three holes making 15 to 20 footers. Ok, so come on, really? And that seemed to happen a few times. Adam Scott makes a 50-footer after hitting a bad tee shot, being in a bunker, chunking it onto the front of the green and I got a15-footer from the fringe and I lip out. After that frustration, after being close and it never quite working out, it was great to have this one.
What was the first thing you thought of when you won? Was there any kind of epiphany?
It's not the one you'd think it would be. I was very happy about it, a great night, a great week and couple weeks after. I definitely had a smile on my face. But one thing it did for me was it opened my eyes up to how I still wasn't the golfer I wanted to be. I still didn't have to do too much to win that tournament. I just happened to play good that week.
I didn't like that. I like to be playing good going into the tournament, feel good about it, go out there and play some solid golf and win a tournament that way. It was great to win, but I felt terrible going into it -- hadn't played the few weeks before it, went home, felt horrible the whole time, didn't want to practice, almost switched a set of clubs. I felt like I was completely out of it.
How good a player do you think you can be? It's interesting to hear you say you still feel like you were a better player in college than you are now.
The old me probably still would beat me now. Like I said, I think I'm right about caught up now, but it's taken me 4 ½ years to catch back up.
Do you have an aspiration to be No. 1 in the world, top 5, make the Ryder Cup, etc.?
I just want to win golf tournaments. That's all I want to do. All that other stuff, once again the Ryder Cup just takes care of itself. You win tournaments, you're on the team. It's pretty simple. I enjoy winning and I feel I'm capable of winning. I've proved it at every level. I'm not feeling sorry for myself for having to struggle for a few years and fight through this stuff. I think it's going to make me a way stronger person down the line.
You have a pretty unique style on the golf course in terms of your clothing, wearing ties, sweater vests, button down shirts. How did that come about and why?
You can get in stuck in modes sometimes where you just kind of do stuff because that's what's always been done. I started thinking was that really the best representation of me? I tried to get more of an accurate portrayal of who I really am. Some of it's just that I love that old golf look and style and it's really unfortunate that it has completely disappeared -- it has such a great mystique to it. It has this different feel. That's really where the thought came from. It's simply just me wanting to be comfortable being me.
Is it hard to play in that stuff?
It's really not that bad. You have to find the right material and the right cuts that are comfortable and that work. It was fun with all the responses I got at the Masters and then going over to the British Open playing a few practice rounds. Every single random person walking around the golf course was asking me 'What tie are you going to wear this weekend or on Thursday? You have some great ties.' People seem to appreciate that respect for the game, especially at [St. Andrews].
What would people be surprised to know about you?
I have a built-in response to this which I formulated with my girlfriend because she gives me such a hard time about it. I'm a cat person. There you go.
How did that come about?
I don't know. I really do like cats. I like them more than dogs. So that's always my girlfriend's attack on me. 'Well, you're a cat person.' So I'm going to tell everybody that from now if anyone asks me something interesting about me.
What do you do when you're not playing?
I watch a lot of movies, especially on the road. That's my perfect afternoon. Morning round, get done, go have a coffee in the afternoon -- me being a Seattle guy, Starbucks is just built in -- go see an afternoon movie.
What are your top 5 movies?
These are the hardest questions I've ever had.
Just throw some out there.
I'm all over the map. I like superhero movies. You know, X-men, Ironman, Superman, Spiderman. They're entertaining, fun to watch. Pirates of the Caribbean. I just like to go and be entertained. I like a good Indie film, stuff like that. I saw Inception; it was pretty stinking awesome. I'll see anything.
A chick flick with your girlfriend?
Yeah, no problem. I like those movies. They're entertaining most of the time. As long as I'm in a dark air conditioned room for about 2 1/2 hours and don't have to think about golf it's perfect. That's about the only way I can get my brain to stop thinking about it. As long as I can go do something else it gets me completely out of that realm, otherwise I'll be sitting in the room all afternoon thinking about it. I can't shut myself up.
I'll do it for you then. Thanks for your time.
Anytime.
Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
FANTASY
PGATOUR.com is part of Turner Sports Digital, part of the Turner Sports & Entertainment Digital Network 