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AT&T NATIONALJune 29, 2011Ryan MooreNEWTOWN SQUARE, PENNSYLVANIA NELSON SILVERIO: Welcome, Ryan Moore, to the interview room of the AT&T National. Ryan finished second here last year and had a really good week last week. Is that kind of your pattern in the summer, you pick it up and get ready for this week? RYAN MOORE: You know, it kind of seems to be that way. I started out this year pretty good, had some good finishes and really for the last six weeks have been playing some good golf and just hasn't really been working together until last week when it all finally worked. I saw some good scores as a result of that. For some reason or another, yeah, it all kind of seems to come together this time of year. Q. What do you like about this course? Obviously you performed well here last year. What's the premium on that fits you? RYAN MOORE: Man, it's just a good, straightforward golf course. There's nothing too tricky about it, and I think I like that. You know, it's just right there in front of you. There's not too much trouble, too much hazards, stuff like that, just some fairways you have to favor one side or the other of it or else it's going to run through into the rough. It gives you a chance to hit a good shot every hole, though. It's not over-penalizing. It definitely gives you a chance. I enjoy that. And really there's a premium on everything here. There's not one aspect of this golf course that's easier really than another; it's a pretty tough driving course. You've got to put your irons in the right position coming into the greens or else you're going to have some really difficult two-putts. You put it above some of these holes or left or right, you hit edges and they roll off a lot. And then once again, once you're on the greens there's no gimme two-putts. So it really challenges every aspect, and I think that's what makes a great golf course. Q. A long-winded question for which I apologize in advance, but from where you are from when you turned pro to where you are now, are you happy with what you've done? You've had some injuries to deal with if I recall really early on, but are you pleased with where you are, and if you're not, what do you need to do to get better? RYAN MOORE: As any golfer, we're never quite where we want to be, always working on something to get better in this game. You know, I would say I'm satisfied to some extent. You know, I did fight through some things early on in my career that were not that much fun and was still able to stay out here, be in contention a few times a year, keep my card pretty comfortably, and really progress every year. I've only had one year where the year before was better. Every year has kind of been building and building and building. I didn't win last year, but I actually had a better year last year than I had in '09, and so far this year I'm having a better year. I've only missed one cut out of 12, 13 events I've played, whatever it is. You know, so my golf, it's a lot more steady, which is where I want it to be. And I think from there, winning becomes possible. When you're in the mix, when you're playing weekends week in and week out, like I said, I've been playing really good golf for the last really two months and was in the top 15 virtually every single one of those weeks going into Saturday and just got nothing out of my weekends, ended up finishing 30th, 32nd, 35th. But you know, I was there, and you're there and you keep grinding, you learn a little something every single week, and that makes last week possible. I actually didn't play quite as good the first two rounds and was a little further out of it, but I was there. I was comfortable on that golf course and I have been comfortable playing weekends. It's not like I was just playing a weekend here and there. I've been there so much that I knew I was going to play good eventually, and I think that's what the steady consistency does for me. It just makes me feel like I am going to play good. At some point it's all going to kind of work together. This is a good time of year for it to be doing that, so I guess that kind of answers your question. Q. I know it's only been a year, but could you talk about the 65 you shot here last year, and also between that round and your performance last week in Hartford, does that give you some extra confidence? RYAN MOORE: Yeah, I mean, playing good golf anywhere anytime always adds some confidence. That was one of my better rounds of the year last year, definitely, if not maybe the best. I mean, this course is not easy, and you have to -- like I said, you really have to do everything well. You have to control yourself all the way around the golf course, and to do that on a Sunday and to do that when I was close and to at least put some pressure on him, you know, that was great. Obviously I'm looking forward to this week, having some good vibes on this course. And playing well last week, yeah, I'm really looking forward to this event. I've spent the last two days trying to rest and recover a little bit. Last week as a little bit exhausting. I was on the on-and-off schedule and not the play-36 schedule. I've been recovering the past couple days, but I'm excited for tomorrow. Q. Going back to the hand injury you had early in your career, how debilitating was that physically and mentally, and how difficult was it to kind of get past that and get back to playing the kind of golf you were playing before you got hurt? RYAN MOORE: Man, I think I underestimated going into it how difficult it would be to get back to feeling like myself again or just to feel good standing over a golf shot. And it's tough when it's your attachment to the golf club that's uncomfortable at all times. You're starting every shot not feeling very good. It's not just something that might hurt at some point in your swing; I mean, it starts from the very beginning feeling uncomfortable. At first it was definitely the physical that wore me down, made it pretty tough, but after a year or two of it bothering me, it becomes mental and it becomes confidence issues at some point of just -- it's hard to stand over a golf shot and feel good about it when you know it's going to hurt. I know a lot of guys deal with it week in and week out, but I think that's the hardest part of it is sometimes just that mental, just standing over it and just making yourself swing. You know it's going to hurt because you're in the rough and you've got to dig it out; it's going to hurt, but you've got to do it. I think that's eventually what kind of had worn me out. And really for the last year, it's been nice, hasn't been bothering me, hasn't hurt, so that's good. Q. How did you get past it both physically and mentally? RYAN MOORE: I just think it's a slow process with any injury. You know, it's just getting that comfort again, and the club doesn't quite fit in my hands the way it used to, so it's getting comfortable to the way it works and the way it releases now and all that stuff. It takes time. And I've definitely been impatient at times with it, but at the same time I take a deep breath and say, all right, let's not get too worried or too worked up over it and get back to figuring it out. Q. A lot of guys who come back from injury talk about having to spend time breaking bad habits they got into while compensating for it. Are you past that now or are you still getting over some of those bad habits? RYAN MOORE: No, I still have some really bad habits actually. Before I hurt my hand I was a left-hand left-side dominant swinger of the golf club, and obviously my body knew better and it made me start compensating. My left side was hurt so my right side started taking over. That's what I fight day in and day out is just that right side kind of wanting to take over, and I get under it and kind of flip-draw it, which honestly last week was maybe the best week of ball-striking. I've been working on some great things and I knew it was going to happen eventually where I could just step up and comfortably fade the golf ball. I hit the ball really straight with a little bit of fade last week which is nice to see. I'm better at visualizing that and my yardages are better that way. Q. (No microphone.) RYAN MOORE: Yeah, I mean, I'm trying to to some extent, but I had some pretty bad habits in that '04 swing. It repeated pretty well, but ideally in the long run my swing can be a lot better than it was then, and I think it's actually getting to that point now. If I kind of land somewhere in between where I was a year ago and where I was in '04, and that's kind of where I'm getting to now, I think it's all in all a much better golf swing and is going to make me a little bit more versatile. I really almost couldn't draw a golf ball the way I hit it those last couple years of being an amateur, which made it really easy and consistent to compete because that eliminated half the golf course. But now I'm a little bit more versatile, and I think you need that out here. I have more height than I used to have. I can hit the ball a lot higher and softer, which I think you need out here. All in all I think it's a matter of getting comfortable and getting used to it, but I think in the long run it's a much better swing. Q. What would be your definition of a fluke winner of a major, not only the week it happens but even as you look back five, six, 10, 20 years later? RYAN MOORE: A fluke winner? Oh, man. I mean, it's hard to say that about a major because they're so tough. You know, definitely there's some surprise winners I would say. But you know what, they're the guy that got it done that week, and that's what the majors are all about. They're just guys that maybe haven't been in contention or really haven't been there or it's their first or second major for that matter. There's been guys that have done that. Yeah, I think everybody is a little bit surprised when it's just somebody you haven't heard and haven't seen on the tops of leaderboards week in and week out. It doesn't mean they deserve it any less. They still played exactly how they needed to that week and they've got a major title under their name. Q. Do you think for most of the players out here who haven't won a major, when they see that happen, do you think their feeling is either inspiration that it can be done, or he did that and I haven't yet? RYAN MOORE: Oh, man. You know, well, this game is just so backwards so often. That's just how it goes sometimes. Guys that you would think throughout their career certainly deserve them haven't won them. And then some guys -- I think the game kind of evens itself out in the long run and you get those weeks where you get the guys that you think should win and then you get a few that don't. But I just think that's the beauty of this game is that anything is possible any week. And I think for me it's more encouragement. You see some guys win that you wouldn't necessarily expect it, and it just shows that it can be anybody's week. Anybody can get out there and get it done that week. And I think for me that's encouraging. Q. If this game evens itself out like you just said, what do you see coming ahead for yourself after having to deal with the stuff you've dealt with? RYAN MOORE: Oh, man. I'd like to see a few more wins definitely. That would be nice. And I think I'm close to that. I think my game is reaching a consistency level that I haven't had since I've been a professional. Like I said, just simply making really every cut up to the U.S. Open, and I hit it so bad at the U.S. Open, I couldn't have made the cut on any golf course we played. It wouldn't have mattered, I played so bad there. But yeah, just for me, it's winning. I need to win some more golf tournaments. You know, things like last week, that's encouraging. I take a heck of a lot more positive out of last week than I take negative. I hit one bad putt at a bad time unfortunately. It was really the first bad putt I had hit in two days, and looking back at it, it was my second round that cost me, not my final round. I shot 64-63 on a weekend. I really can't complain about that. I shot even par in my second round because I had to tee off at 6:30 at night for seven holes and then come back at 5:00 the next morning and finish up, and it's hard to get a rhythm and consistency. No excuse, but that's what cost me in the long run. Yeah, I take a lot of positives out of last week and just try and carry that through, and I hope it's a little different result next time I'm around the lead. I did everything I needed to do. People just have a knack of playing good when I'm right around -- I mean, not one person has ever -- like if I've been right around the lead, Adam Scott made a birdie on me just to get into a playoff on the last hole after playing awful his whole day, K.J. Choi got up-and-down like four holes in a row making 20-footers at Memorial to beat me by a shot. I think he made one bogey yesterday, just played perfect -- not yesterday, Sunday, whatever; they're all the same days to me right now. But I keep doing what I need to do. I'm getting around the leads, and eventually they're going to start going my way. Q. Are you an optimist in every aspect of your life, or is that the mentality you have to take in golf or else it'll kind of drive you nuts? RYAN MOORE: I try to be. I can't say I'm very good at it, not at golf, either. But a week like last week, there really were so many positives. I really played some of my best golf of the year and on a weekend finally. There's not a lot I can be too frustrated about except for one putt. One putt throughout a week, that's not too bad. I'm excited to go play this week and hopefully get in the mix again on Sunday. I mean, that's really what I'm trying to do is just be there, just be there and give myself a chance to go play a great round like that and be right up there. I mean, I did everything I needed to do on Sunday. I went out and made birdies early, made it very clear that he couldn't just cruise it and walk away with that thing. I did everything I needed to do, and he just played good. He played better in the end. Obviously I'd like to be right up there close to the lead going into Sunday or with the lead and kind of see what happens from there. NELSON SILVERIO: Ryan, thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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