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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 19, 2004

Ryan Moore

MAMARONECK, NEW YORK

PETE KOWALSKI: Ryan, thank you for joining us, and congratulations on your victory.

Probably the last three holes is probably went in your favor, and give us some details on what happened in that stretch.

RYAN MOORE: Let's see, made a good birdie there. I started on the back side, got an unbelievable lie on No. 10. The ball was about this high (indicating five feet) and I didn't have much of a shot there and I almost chipped in for par and we boast bogeyed there. That was kind of the start of where it got really ugly. It was pretty ugly on front, not for him so much but for me.

A good birdie there on 12, got a little momentum and then gave it right back with a bogey.

Then, I don't know, those last few holes, it's kind of a blur even to me right now. Let's see, 14, I made a solid par there. He had missed the green and was short-sided. The wind was really, really swirling out there today. I had not seen it like that, obviously it's only the third time or so that I've seen the course and I haven't seen it in too many conditions. But the wind was in the opposite direction and really up and down. It was throwing some shots around, really weird. Especially those last few holes, it got really interesting. But made a solid par there. And then I'd give it up and make another bogey the next hole. Kind of had that momentum. I had about an 8-footer to win the hole there and I missed it.

16, hit two really good, drive and really good second shot, just missed by, about 20-footer or so; it burned the edge.

And then 17, I won with a bogey. I don't know what else to say, it was not good. I made about a 5-footer for that bogey and he missed about a 4-footer coming down the slope the opposite direction to give me the hole.

Then that last hole, he just hit it in a really tough spot. Nothing else he could have done. That was about as close as he could have got it. My shot coming in was about a foot from rolling down right next to the hole and just hung up there, which I was a little disappointed about. But almost made it. I just got to touch it and let it roll and do whatever it wanted to do. One of those easy ones, didn't even have to worry with about it. But if I hit it too hard, I would have been right where he was and that was it. He had that chip to tie me and just didn't happen.

PETE KOWALSKI: We paced that last putt off at 45 feet on the 18th hole.

RYAN MOORE: I don't know how it didn't go in. Honestly, that thing was dead-center about two inches that away and still somehow just missed the edge. But it was good pace. That's all I could try and do. That's probably as close as I ever could have gotten it.

PETE KOWALSKI: What's your reaction to winning?

RYAN MOORE: Winning, I'm happy, obviously. It's better than losing.

It was a grind. It was a tough round for both of us, and it was just a long day. I don't know if I was tired in the afternoon or what but I just wasn't hitting the ball near as well. Just didn't feel as good over it, wasn't hitting as many fairways and when I was hitting fairways, I'd miss the green. When he would miss a green, I'd miss it worse.

It was just, I had a lot of opportunities and just didn't take advantage of them until those last few holes. [] I was telling him earlier, today was a gift, not a win. That was -- you know, that was just the battle of who could last the longer out there and fortunately I lasted. No. 17 was the first time I was all-square since the first tee. I had never had a lead all day long. I was down, and more down and then more down and then less down, kind of back and forth all day.

Once again, I tried to stay as patient as I possibly could. Just know that the last few holes out there are tough. They are good golf holes and pars could win them.

Q. Let me ask you about the last five holes. Is my scorecard right, did you win four of the last five holes?

RYAN MOORE: I don't know. Let's see,.

Q. You win one, and you lose one --

RYAN MOORE: I won the last three, I think.

PETE KOWALSKI: Four of the last five.

RYAN MOORE: Yeah, four of the last five. I'll take it.

Q. Seven birdies this morning?

RYAN MOORE: Yeah.

Q. You said that your perspective of the golf course changes[] when you're fighting it a little bit; that you're not as precise?

RYAN MOORE: Well, yes. It's a much harder golf course when you're not hitting it good. (Laughter.)

This morning I was hitting really solid and controlling my ball. The greens were a little softer and you're able to throw 7- and 8-irons and stop them, where this afternoon they are skipping a little more and bouncing past.

Yeah, you know, you get a little off out there and you can really, really pay the price. That's kind of what I did there for a while. Just I was really close but not quite there. I missed my little bits and would fall off. And like I said on 10, I missed the green by five feet and had the most impossible shot I've ever had. I couldn't move more than two or three feet just because I gripped my club about that far (indicating a foot) for to me able to miss the ball, I hit it []five feet left and I kick right left and roll next to the pin. [] It's just you've got to be really precise. You've got to be on yardage and all that stuff. I was just a little off.

This morning, I was in it really solid, controlling my ball. I was hitting it five and six feet a lot, which it's easier to make birdies than chipping in.

Q. The success that you've had winning tournaments, does that come into play at all down the stretch when you're down a couple with three holes to go, does that make a difference in the way that you feel?

RYAN MOORE: I don't think so necessarily. I think I've said all along, I'm just trying to control one shot at a time. I'm not back thinking about, hey, I've won before so I can do this, no. I'm just trying to focus as hard as I can on what I've got to do. I can't control with a he's doing. All I can do is just go out there and hit my shots.

Of course, victories help. It gives you more confidence going into the event, I would say. But once you're in the event, I would think as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't really boost me, I guess you could say.

Q. You make that birdie on 12 and then you get it back on 13, is there a point there at all when you wonder, "am I going to be able to grind this one out?"

RYAN MOORE: No, not really. I mean, obviously I never gave up. It was kind of the key to the day. I made that birdie there and I was like, all right, let's get a little momentum going. I hit what I thought was a really good shot into that par 3, which is playing really tough today with a really hard and into you, like right-to-left wind. I hit it right up the right edge of the green, just waiting for the wind to knock it left; and it ends up going right and falls in the bunker and I'm like, okay, got 30 miles an hour of wind going this way or whatever it was, and the ball doesn't move and at that it goes right. Like I said, it was swirling, and I hit a good shot there. I couldn't really be mad at myself. I was mad when I left it in the bunker. That wasn't very good.

But, no, I never gave up. I think I was able to pull it out. The last few holes are tough. They are not gimmes, obviously. I kind of showed that today, just making some good, solid pars, even a bogey on 17. That was a tough drive today because the wind was hard right-to-left. I hit a hard cut and still ended up in the left rough and he kind of did the same thing. That was just a tough hole.

Q. During the streak that you've been on this summer in terms of match-play, can you remember the last time you were in this specific situation, and have you been in this situation down three with five holes left or something similar?

RYAN MOORE: No. I was 3-down after three holes. Like my first match at Public Links, I was able to get back, I think I was up around square at the turn and kind of took control from there. I don't think I've ever won a match when I was three down with five to go or 2-down with three to go or whatever.

Usually when I'm winning a match, I'm kind of in control of it the whole time, that's generally how I play. I go out there and start out solid. But he went out firing and birdied the first two holes, which are not exactly easy golf holes. I was like, okay, you might want to start making birdies here. It was just a good day, I guess.

Q. You just said that you're usually in the situation where you're up, let's say three, with five holes to go. Do you feel pressure in that situation when you're up? Do you think he felt some of that pressure?

RYAN MOORE: Yeah, I mean, there's always that. I guess the Western Am, I was 4-up the final match with about 12 holes to go, and that guy squared me up after 18 and we had to go like an extra hole and I ended up making a 35-footer on the first playoff hole.

I mean, you kind of get there and you're like, all right this shouldn't be a problem but at the same time, you're like, well, I've still got to play good. But then you don't want to being too aggressive. You kind of get caught in between sometimes and that's kind of what happened to me there. I was just trying to make pars and he starts making birdies and you've got to go -- that's why match-play is so interesting.

Even in situations like that where you are 4-up or 3-up or whatever and there still is pressure on you, because still, you never know, the other guy could birdie the last three holes, or four for that matter, and ends up beating you. There's always that[] pressure of just having to hit good golf shots and expecting the other guy to do the same.

Q. The way he had played the previous few holes, did you feel comfortable that as long as you hit a solid shot that you would be able to score better than him, just because he had not really hit a good shot in a while?

RYAN MOORE: No, I figured he was due. Actually, he hit some good iron shots earlier and was kind of a little off there. He was kind of getting a little frustrated those last couple holes. Obviously was not very happy losing the last two. I think thought it might kind of fire him up to bring it there the last hole and hit a good shot.

For me, I was just trying to hit it up there and just let it swing around and roll around. I kind of looked at the green earlier when I was walking by to 10 was just like, wow, get it up there and it will roll right around and I missed doing that by about a foot. I was still sitting there, thinking-golf to make a birdie to win. And even when I rolled it down there an inch, I expected him to chip-in and go an extra hole, that's kind of how I am. I always expect to make good shots.

Q. When he started doing stuff like talking to himself, picking up the grass and throwing it in the air, did you sort of see that he had gotten --

RYAN MOORE: When was that? I don't watch. (Laughing) I didn't even look at the other guy, honest.

Q. When he hit the drive on 17, you guys were both in the rough and he was sort of talking, yelling at himself and you guys were walking down the fairway; you didn't notice any of that from him?

RYAN MOORE: Oh, yeah, I noticed that , yeah. (Laughter.) I notice those things. It's when they are swinging, I don't really watch them. I kind of talk to my caddie and don't even pay attention. Half the time, I don't even see where the ball -- I had no idea where his ball went on 17, his second shot. I didn't even know until I got to the green. I thought it went left, I have no idea.

Q. Who is caddying for you?

RYAN MOORE: A good buddy of mine, a roommate of mine from school, Kirk Brown is his name. He caddied for me at the Public Links, as well.

Q. He knows your game?

RYAN MOORE: Yeah, his philosophy is just to stay out of my way and carry the bag, and a little comic relief here and there. He's a funny guy, keeps me loose. But he knows when to be serious. He's a good athlete himself, actually a pretty fair golfer, and he knows when to bear down and be serious coming down the stretch there.

Q. You said that you thought that 45-footer, you just needed to get it going; was that an easy putt for you? The way you're tacking, like it wasn't a big deal but you very easily could have been right back down where he was.

RYAN MOORE: Yeah, I could have putted off the green there. It was one of those putts. I picked a spot about four feet in front of me, and that's all I was trying to get it to and let it got rest of the way. Honestly, like maybe not even that far, like two or three feet, which for me I actually like those. You just kind of get them going and they are on their way where an uphill putt is a little tougher, just a little bigger swing, more things can go wrong where, a little stroke, you just kind of different it like a 3-footer.

I saw the slope pretty well. I saw his ball coming across the way it went there and was able to see the slope. I felt comfortable over it. It didn't bother me. The only thing that bothered me was my ball was right up against the rough, so I had to pick up the putter a little quicker, but obviously it didn't affect me too much.

PETE KOWALSKI: Ryan, thank you very much. Congratulations on your advancement to the quarterfinals.

End of FastScripts.

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