The 12th Man

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Tell me about your clinching match with Lee Westwood. You’re down two with three to play; what’s going through your mind in that moment?
“I hadn’t played great all day. Neither of us had, really. We missed a couple of putts on 12 and 13 that could have won the hole. Then I three-putted 14 to give him the hole, and then he birdied the next hole to go two-up, and something about that just got a little fire lit in me. As I walked off that green, I spotted J.B. Holmes and Patrick Reed, whose matches had both ended and had come back to follow my match, and they just said, ‘Hey man, it’s not over, just keep hitting good shots and you never know what can happen.’ And something in me said, ‘I’m not going down like this. I got picked to be here for a reason, and I want to earn this point.’

“A switch flipped right then and I hit the best shot I hit all day, then hit maybe the best golf shot I’ve ever hit in my life into the 16th green — the second I hit it, I knew there was no way it could be outside 10 feet for eagle. Then I knocked in that putt, and then it all just sort of … (Moore pauses, thinking) … I don’t know. It’s hard to describe, even now. It was just an incredible three holes of golf for me, let’s put it that way. It’s honestly still a little bit of a blur.

“I hit a beautiful shot into 17 and made another great putt, then hit a great drive on 18 — again, on a hole I hadn’t hit a good drive on all week. Then I hit another great wedge shot there … just to close that match out like that, and play the best golf I played all week on those three holes, when I really wanted to, that’s encouraging. That’ll help me build a lot of confidence, for sure, down the road. If I can do it in that environment, in that situation, I can do it anywhere.”

I heard that you didn’t know your putt was the Cup clincher until after it went in?
“I didn’t. I was so focused on that moment. I didn’t look at the scoreboard or anything. He’s in the bunker, and I think, ‘He probably isn’t going to hole his bunker shot, but he can still get up and down for par, which means I need to be ready to make this birdie putt to win my full point’ — in my mind, that’s all I was thinking about. Once the point came where I realized I only had to two-putt, there was zero chance that ball was going to get to the hole. (laughs) I was cozying that baby up there. Now, I feel like if I had really needed to make it, I would have put it dead-center, because I had a green light on it, but for me, it was just, ‘Hey, let’s lock up this point.’”

Watching on TV, you guys celebrated like Marshawn Lynch after scoring a touchdown, just turning around and calmly shaking hands with the offensive linemen.
“Right, yeah. I think it ended up being a little anti-climactic, because I two-putted to win the match. I don’t think anyone else even really knew what was going on. My wife was actually the one who came out and told me that we won. And I was like, ‘Oh, really? That’s cool.’ (laughs) Honestly, I was so excited I won my match, that I wasn’t even thinking about that.”

Do you have the ball?
“Actually, Davis went and got the ball for me. And by that point, everyone had gathered around me and was giving hugs, and was all excited. I guess Davis had the clinching point one year, too, and he left his ball in the cup in all the excitement and never got it. So, he came over to give me a hug and gave me the ball and basically said, ‘I never got the ball when I was in your position; I don’t want you to miss out on this.’ I never would have even thought of it in the moment, so I was just like, ‘Cool, thanks,’ and went back to hugging everyone and celebrating and stuff.

“Later, though, I was thinking about it, and we were about to go do the awards ceremony, and I went up to him and handed him the ball and said something like, ‘You’re the only reason I’m here, and you believed enough in me to put me on this team. This is your team, you did so much for this — I want you to have the ball.’ I think he was kind of surprised, but then obviously was really happy and excited. But that’s really how I felt about it. He was the only reason I was there, and he did so much over the last two years to make that team successful. I really felt like it was his ball, it wasn’t mine. That clinching point was for him.”

How has the Ryder Cup experience changed things for you, if at all, going forward?
“You know, I don’t really know yet. That’s the thing. The confidence that I gained dealing with the pressure of everything that week entails, I think, will make me a lot more comfortable in situations where I’m around the lead, or I’m nervous.”

When was the last time you got home to play The Classic? (Editor’s note: Moore’s father, Mike Moore, is owner and head pro of The Classic Golf Club in Spanaway, where Moore first honed his craft.)
“Man, I haven’t been home since last December. Between having a baby, and just all the regular travel, plus the Ryder Cup, it’s been a crazy year. But we’re coming back up this December, so it will be nice to get home and see the family again.”

At this point in the interview, Moore had to take a break for a second to pick up dinner for the family — complete with fortune cookies or, as son Tucker calls them, “crackers.”

I’m curious to know what that fortune cookie says.
“(laughs) We’ll see. Those are for my son. He’s always like, ‘Dad, can we go to the restaurant with the crackers?”

Given how the year has gone, I’m sure it’s something good.
“Hopefully you’re right.”

What are your goals for 2017?
“We haven’t gone over that yet. We’ll have another planning meeting here after this year is over. But, on the table for me is a multi-win season. I’ve never done that, though I’ve been close, including this year. I think that’s the next step for me. A lot of that is physical — working with my trainer for an entire offseason, I think, will help that, and help me build my endurance for playing multiple weeks in a row.

“Then, we’ll just take things from there and see how it goes.”

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