Moore plays nice, quiet practice round

Adam Candee

Tuesday, April 5, 2005 | 9:07 a.m.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- It's a long and cold shadow that Tiger Woods casts, one into which Ryan Moore cheerfully dove Monday afternoon.

Moore saw the 1:50 p.m. spot after Woods and Mark O'Meara open and he grabbed the chance to play nine holes with only his caddie, Kirk Brown, next to him. As the thick crowds followed Woods around the front nine at Augusta National, Moore enjoyed the relative peace and quiet that he has seen so little of since last summer.

"That was awesome, actually," Moore said. "Get out nine holes and really hit a lot of shots and not having to worry about hitting over your playing partner and avoid him. It was great. It was actually what I was looking forward to."

Moore, a UNLV senior playing his second Masters in three years, originally expected to go out on his own Sunday, but instead played 18 holes with former Rebels standout Chad Campbell.

Today's practice round that teed off at 8 a.m. is a Las Vegas dream: Moore, Campbell, Summerlin resident Chris Riley and defending Masters champion Phil Mickelson.

After finishing's Monday anonymous nine, Moore entertained more questions about his statement last month that he can win the tournament. He clarified that he does not expect to breeze to a win, but continued to express confidence in his play.

"I've been playing pretty solid golf, week in and week out," Moore said. "Obviously, it has to be a little better in a major championship than just a regular college event or an amateur event.

"I've been controlling my golf ball. That's one of the things you really have to do. You have to have great distance control, put it on the right level all day long and leave yourself reasonable putts. That's one thing I've been doing very well."

Knight and Campbell spent almost an hour on the putting green Monday, the continuation of a seven-month process of fixing some structural flaws in Campbell's putting that Knight first noticed at last year's Ryder Cup matches.

While putting has never been the strength of Campbell's game, he struggled even more last year. Campbell finished 160th on the PGA Tour in putting average at 1.799 putts per green in regulation, the worst average of his first three years.

Knight had Campbell repeat the same drill for most of his time. Knight set up two putts from different distances on the green that guaranteed varying levels of break. In between putting each of those balls, Campbell always returned to a straight 3-footer set up along a T-square tool that forced him to properly square the putter.

If Monday's performance is any indication, Campbell is making excellent progress. He stroked confident putts, committing to the line on both makes and misses.

Knight said Campbell's troubles stemmed from a flaw in his alignment that caused him to pull his putts.

Knight said Campbell's balance while putting -- a Knight imperative -- is much better than it was a few months ago and that Campbell is almost back to normal. After stopping in Las Vegas in February to work with Knight on his way to the rain-shortened Nissan Open in California, Campbell enjoyed his best finish of the year in a playoff loss to Adam Scott, another former Rebel.

That's the life of a father traveling to play in golf tournaments with a 7-month-old baby in tow. Riley and his wife, Michelle, are working overtime with daughter Taylor while moving from event to event.

"It's been a transition traveling with her," Riley said. "It's tough carrying your baby around the country, different hotel rooms after hotel rooms. It's been a different deal. I've just got to get used to it all. It's tough for my wife too."

Combined with bad weather that is breaking everyone's rhythm, Riley's new responsibilities may be taking a toll. He is off to a slow start this year, making three out of six cuts with a high finish of a tie for 18th at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in January.