Columnist Adam Candee: Moore cashed in on opportunity at Masters

Adam Candee

Wednesday, April 13, 2005 | 9:10 a.m.

Adam Candee covers golf for the Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at candee@lasvegassun.com.

Chip this, Tiger: The biggest winner at the Masters was Ryan Moore.

If you want to see some really fast-moving greens, forget Augusta National. Just take a peek in Moore's pockets -- if not now, then in about three months.

The amateur who isn't, Moore finished tied for 13th at 1-under in the planet's most important golf tournament. In addition to the dozens of panting agents and fawning equipment makers lining the fairways in Augusta, Moore fired three sub-par rounds in front of a massive TV audience that learned his name as he played warm-up act to Woods in the green jacket ceremony.

Think Callaway, Ping, IMG, Gaylord Sports Management and every other company with designs on his talent was scratching eyeballs and kneeing groins to get a shot at Moore before Augusta? (Amazing how a certain top-ranked player can end up in Moore's Masters practice round at the very last second, isn't it?)

Well, the price just went way up, boys. Your target swiftly ascended from a big name in golf to a big name in sports. The local club pro watches the Buick Invitational; every 25-handicapper with an itch for a new driver and a cheap burger tunes in to the Masters.

Jackpot.

No one is throwing around dollar figures just yet. That's not Moore's style anyway. He'll worry about contracts when he absolutely must, likely not until after he earns his degree from UNLV in a couple of months.

OK, but we like to talk about the money, so here's a fun comparison: Mickelson's deal with Callaway is estimated to be worth anywhere from $7 million to $10 million, and a select handful of other golfers pull in a solid seven figures in endorsement money.

Moore is not in that group quite yet, but it would be foolish to think we're talking about anything less than a very firm six figures on his first day as a pro. That day is likely to come in July, leaving more than enough time for Moore to make some cash on sponsor's exemptions after he returns from the British Open. He would have earned close to $200,000 just for his T13 at Augusta this year and his T24 late last year at the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro.

"There were already great opportunities for him and I think he just keeps enhancing those," UNLV coach Dwaine Knight said.

Enhanced is balance sheet parlance in this case. We're talking about the most accomplished amateur player since Woods. Actually, let's redirect: Moore is no longer an amateur at all.

"There's nothing left for me to accomplish," Moore said of being an amateur, a title he despises. "I've won pretty much every tournament I wanted to win."

From the day he started talking about winning the Masters, he was a pro. When he earned a return trip to next year's Masters, Moore put one foot onto the PGA tour and left the other just far enough in Las Vegas to take a crack at the NCAA team championship with his buddies.

While the contract seekers smear their calendars with red ink counting down the days until Moore turns pro, he will take it a day at a time, as always. He gets that luxury through his father, Mike, who runs a Rolex ship in arranging Ryan's future.

For now, money is Mike's job and drill sergeants take their jobs less seriously. There is to be no direct contact between Ryan and any of the agents or club reps. Mike said he gets "many, many calls" in a week from "guys pitching their wares." He sees it as his job to keep the constant attention away from Ryan.

What Mike can't do much about is the exposure of Ryan as a star on the national stage, a young man who birdied seven of his final 12 holes and sounded disappointed that all the stretch did was put him into a red number.

Nor would he want to.

"This is one of the most widely televised events in the world, so I would hope that would be the case," Mike Moore said of Ryan's increased public visibility.

Knight said requests to talk to Moore have "increased tenfold" in the two days since the Masters. The same could be said of the numbers it will take to get a signature this summer.

Not that we'll ever see all of the offers, but don't expect Ryan and Mike to grab at the highest bidder's deal either. Don't forget that Ryan credited his switch to Ping irons, 3-wood and driver during his junior year as part of his takeoff into stardom.

Even so, Ping still rhymes with "ching," as in cha-ching, as in the sound of a cash register pried farther open by Moore's mastery.