Moore struggles through up and down first round

Adam Candee

Friday, June 17, 2005 | 9:48 a.m.

PINEHURST, N.C. -- Ryan Moore's candid nature makes him a sort of self-reflective Santa Claus: he knows when he's been good and knows when he's been bad.

In Thursday's first round of the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, Moore knew he'd actually been both.

A 5-over 75 left Moore eight shots off the lead and needing a strong performance this afternoon to make the cut on a course that toughened in the later part of Thursday's round. The top 60 players and ties, as well as any player within 10 strokes of the lead, advance to Saturday and Sunday.

"It's a long week and it's a tough week for everybody, no matter what," Moore said. "Everybody's going to make some bogeys and maybe even a double here or there. It's that tough."

The opening score may not have been very good, but Moore's 27 putts evidence how well he scrambled just to make that score.

"That was the best 75 I've ever shot in my entire life," Moore said. "That was absolutely ridiculous. I don't want to go through that ever again in my entire life. That was just battling, battling, battling all the way around."

Just two weeks removed from his final college tournament at UNLV and a few days from turning pro on the PGA tour, Moore struggled with anything outside of about 50 yards Thursday. The accuracy that marks his game was not there, as Moore hit only four fairways and five greens in regulation.

Thanks to his outstanding short game, though, Moore avoided a disastrous start. He made a 15-foot putt at No. 7 to save par and then a tricky 10-footer at No. 8 to again par when he could have done much worse.

"I shot 90 today, and somehow shot 75," Moore said. "That's exactly what it was. I just hit the ball in places I never should have hit it."

Since tying for 13th at the Masters in April, Moore has not put together a full effort at a tournament. His fifth-place finish at the NCAA championship in Maryland came because of two excellent closing rounds to offset two mediocre ones.

His crazy travel schedule and numerous obligations for the preparation to turn pro have not affected him, Moore said, but he also admits that he hasn't had his best game since a UNLV tournament in Hawaii in late February.

Still, Moore doesn't ever feel that his next great round is far off. He, like most at Pinehurst No. 2, is just trying to minimize the damage of his mistakes.

"I was just a little off on my good shots and way off on my bad shots," Moore said.

He was to tee off this afternoon at 1:10 p.m., again in the traditional U.S. Open pairing with defending champion Retief Goosen and reigning British Open champion Todd Hamilton.

Moore will hold a Tuesday press conference and conference call from the Barclays Classic in Harrison, N.Y. He presumably will announce who he has chosen to represent him, as well as what endorsement deals he will sign.

Moore, along with his father, Mike, and older brother, Jeremy, has been taking meetings since the start of the year with potential agents and with golf equipment manufacturers. He is reportedly going to receive some of the largest endorsement fees in the past few years, a handsome six-figure reward for his outstanding amateur run in 2004.

For what it's worth, Moore is not tipping his hand -- or his hat -- just yet. He continued to sport the Ping cap and Oakley shirt that he wore throughout his UNLV career. Moore credited a switch to Ping irons during his junior season for the beginning of his successful run. But he keeps people guessing as he employed a Nike driver during an NCAA practice round while Ping representatives hovered around the Rebels team.