The Loop

Ryan Moore doesn't expect to get the Ryder Cup nod

September 22, 2016
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ATLANTA -- Will Ryan Moore get the call when Davis Love III announces his final Ryder Cup captain’s pick during halftime of Sunday night’s Bears-Cowboys game?   If you ask him, it sounds like the answer will be no, unless perhaps he wins again this week. This despite Moore sitting 20th in the standings and having finished in the top 10 in three of his last five starts, which included a win at the John Deere Classic in mid-August.   “When I earn a spot someday I’ll get that chance,” Moore said Thursday after opening with an even-par 70 to sit four strokes off the lead at the season-ending Tour Championship. “That’s how I view it. Hopefully one of these years I’ll earn a spot and be on the team.”   Earn meaning automatically qualify for one of the top eight spots on the team. In 2014, Moore finished outside automatically qualifying but was passed over when it came to being a pick.   Moore was one of the potential captain’s picks invited to practice at Hazeltine earlier this week, along with Bubba Watson, Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger. Moore politely declined because he had played for seven straight weeks and had long ago scheduled some down time with friends visiting his family at their home in Las Vegas. But he also told Love that he would go if it would help.   Love told Moore it was OK, that he understood and that it wouldn’t factor in his decision. Playing well this week might, though.   Why would Moore be a good pick?   He has been in better form of late than any of the aforementioned players, though Thomas did shoot 68 Thursday and Watson is ranked seventh in the world. And even though Moore would be a Ryder Cup rookie he has vast experience when it comes to match play -- he has finished in the top five at the WGC-Match Play and as an amateur in 2004 won the NCAA Individual Championship, U.S. Amateur Public Links and the U.S. Amateur.   As an amateur, Moore also played in the Walker Cup, Palmer Cup and Eisenhower Trophy. On tour, he has won five times and proven a reliable putter, ranking 41st this season in strokes gained/putting and 27th in strokes gained/around the green, two vital areas in match play.   The 33-year-old also loves the idea of match play in and of itself.   “There’s something very simple about it,” he said. “It’s just you and somebody else.”   If only the same could be said about Love’s final pick.