Ryan

Moore

Moore is off to a 2-for-4 start this season with a T28 at the Shriners and a T48 at the Mayakoba. That puts him at 139th in the early FedExCup race. Moore is playing this season on a Top 50 Career Earnings exemption. That will allow him to set his schedule as he desires but he still needs to perform if he wants to avoid missing the Playoffs for a third straight season. He’s landed just three top 25s over the last two seasons, a sharp dropoff from his early career where he bagged at least five top 25s in 15 straight seasons.

The 2009 Wyndham champ has a hit-or-miss record with Sedgefield Country Club. He has two other top 10s to go along with his win, in 10 previous visits, but also five visits where he’s landed outside of the top 50 at week’s end. So far this week he’s split just 15-of-28 fairways but recovered by gaining 4 strokes on approach, landing 29 greens in regulation. Most importantly, he’s caught fire with the flat stick. Highlights today included a pair of birdie bombs from outside of 22 feet. “I don’t hit it long and there’s just getting to be less and less golf courses I feel like I have a chance on as they keep evolving and changing them over the years. So this one still remains like more of a shotmaker’s golf course, blind tee shots a lot and shorter and tougher angles.” Moore entered on the heels of 18 straight events without a top 20, dating back to his runner-up finish at last year’s John Deere Classic. He will need a similar finish this week if he wants to crack the field for the Playoffs as he entered at just 183rd in the FedExCup race.

The 39-year-old, 183rd in the FedExCup standings, has been playing the remainder of this season on conditional status after failing to meet the terms of Major Medical Extension with a 70th- and last-place finish at the Memorial. He owns five TOUR victories in 396 events, his first coming here in 2009 in extra time over Jason Bohn and Kevin Stadler, while his most recent is the 2016 John Deere 121 starts ago, the Deere also the site of his most recent top 10, a T2 July of last year. Today, the UNLV alum was 1-under thru 12 holes (3 birdies, 2 bogeys) and toiling around the middle-of-the-pack, but raced to the finish with circles at 4, 5, 6 and 8. On nine (of 14) fairways and 14 greens in regulation, he gained 2.312 strokes tee-to-green, 2.842 of that on approach and -1.498 of that around, and posted a tidy 1.571 putts per GIR and 2.175 SG: Putting.

Moore is a regular at the Memorial with 15 previous appearances at the event with notable finishes of solo second (2007) and T5 (2010). Overall, he is 13-for-15 at the Memorial with eight of those doubling as top 25s. However, he is just 3-for-8 on the season and hasn’t teed it up with a T49 in Phoenix, more than three months ago. Moore has dealt with back issues over the last few seasons but there is no confirmation on what has caused the recent hiatus. He’s playing this week on a sponsor’s invite and will utilize the final start on his medical exemption with 74.5 FedExCup Points required to fulfill the terms. That would require a two-way tie for 10th (75.5 FEC Points) or better.

The UNLV product arrived with missed cuts in eight of his last nine starts dating back to last summer. He does boast a steady record at the AT&T Pro-Am, though, owning three finishes of T26 or better in six visits. Today, he started on the Shore Course at Monterey Peninsula Country Club and looked sharp with 10-of-13 fairways hit and 15 greens landed in regulation. That kept his round relatively stress-free and resulted in a clean card with five circles. Where does he go from here? His second round will be at Spyglass Hill and gamers will want to monitor his performance over the next few days to see if today’s round was an outlier or if he truly might be rounding back into form soon.

The 38-year-old, who began the day T3, two back, was vying for his sixth TOUR title in 378 events, first since here in 2016 as the 54-hole leader by one. That was 102 starts and five years ago next month. Instead, the UNLV alum records his first top 25 of the season in 13 events, and his first top 10 since T6 at last season’s AmEx 24 starts ago. It’s his 19th career podium, first since solo 3rd at the 2019 Valero (39 starts ago), and ninth career runner-up, first since T2 at the 2019 Safeway (50 starts ago). For the week, the Tacoma, Washington, native carded rounds of 65-66-68-68, totaled 22 birdies versus five bogeys, and ranked No. 1 in Driving Accuracy at 91.07 percent (51/56), 21st in SG: Off-the-Tee (1.777), 15th in SG: Approach (4.084), 20th in SG: Around (1.250), 11th in SG: Putting (3.914), and 12th SG: Tee-to-Green (7.297). In R4, he offset three bogeys with six birdies on 12 greens in regulation, gaining 1.198 of 1.873 SG: Total with the flat stick. See link to post-round comments below, which includes reference to a potential pass on the upcoming Open Championship spot he earned with this week’s finish.

Moore has dealt with this issue all season and it really slowed him down to start the year. Last week’s runner-up finish was his first top 25 of the season but he’s hoping to control the back issues by avoiding the travel overseas. Gamers should be willing to reinvest when he tees it up again but also keep it in the back of their mind that Moore is playing through pain and likely will be for the foreseeable future.

ZJ was in the hunt last week at TPC Deere Run but settled for T34 after a Sunday 71. Johnson sports a strong resume at The Open but won’t get a chance to improve upon that in 2021. His record at The Open includes a trio of top 10s with the 2015 victory at St. Andrews being the obvious highlight. Posting pre-tourney WDs this morning as well were Louis de Jager (COVID-19) and Ryan Moore (back injury). Golfers that gained entry after those WDs were Adam Long, Sam Horsfield, and Dylan Frittelli.

Five players have recorded multiple bogey-free rounds this week with two apiece, including Moore (R1, R3). When he won here in 2016, his most recent of five TOUR titles coming 102 starts and five years ago next month, he was the 54-hole leader by one. The Tacoma, Washington, native will play out of the fourth-to-last twosome on Sunday with Maverick McNealy. This is his first time this season in 13 events that he’s in the top 10 at the three-quarter pole, and first since T10 at last season’s opposite-field Barracuda, where he eventually finished T12 after being an 18-hole co-leader. With 54 holes in the books, the UNLV alum has tallied 16 birdies against two bogeys, and ranks No. 1 in Driving Accuracy at 92.86 percent (39/42), and T1 in Greens in Regulation at 85.19 percent (46/54). He striped all 14 fairways today (0.672 SG: Off-the-Tee), but digressed to 13 GIR (-0.316 SG: Approach). See link to post-round comments below.

This is the Tacoma, Washington, native’s first time in the halfway top 10 this season in 13 events, and first since T6 at last season’s AmEx 16 months ago (Jan. 2020), where he eventually finished T6 (68-65-67-69). When he won here in 2016, the tourney was held in August and ran opposite the Rio Olympics, so it only makes sense he’s back in the mix in an Olympic year. At that 2016 edition, the UNLV alum was T1 after 36 holes and the 54-hole leader by one, before going on to a 2-shot victory (65-65-65-67) over Ben Martin. That’s his most recent of five TOUR titles, coming 102 starts and five years ago next month. The 38-year-old will play out of the third-to-last threesome in R3 with Chez Reavie and Lucas Glover. Today’s lap featured seven birdies versus two bogeys on 12 (of 14) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, after peppering all 18 GIR in R1.