Ryan Moore Wins Wyndham Championship on Third Playoff Hole

Posted Aug 23, 2009 7:02PM By Will Brinson (RSS feed)

Filed Under: PGA

FanHouse is fighting the rain at Greensboro's 2009 Wyndham Championship.

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Ryan Moore never really looked like a candidate to win the Wyndham Championship. It's not that he's untalented by any means (in fact, nothing could be further from the truth), but a third-round 70 seemed to doom the unsponsored youngster. But he fought back several times late in the afternoon at Greensboro and won his first ever PGA event in five seasons on the Tour.

Only four other players in the top-20 shot above 70 during a third round that saw Sergio Garcia make tremendous leaderboard moves, and Moore was, for most of the day, well behind the leaders. But a scorching 31 on the back nine that featured five consecutive birdies from holes 12 to 16 suddenly vaulted Moore into the lead by himself.

More: Wyndham Championship Leaderboard

A bogey by Moore on 18 gave Kevin Stadler the chance to win, but Stadler's putt (video conveniently located here) missed and the two gentlemen, along with Jason Bohn, headed to a playoff. Moore managed to outlast Stadler and used a fantastic second shot on 18 (the third run on the day anyway) to add a win at the Wyndham Championship to an already somewhat star-studded resume.

Stadler, for his part, was relatively emotional following the second-place finish, looking somewhat distraught at the idea that he let his first PGA win slip away so quickly. Not to mention, of course, he and his father could have become just the second father-son combination to win in Greensboro.

"I thought I hit a great putt," Stadler said about his miss on 18. "If I had to do it again, I'd hit the same thing."

Of course, despite what he thought was a good shot, Stadler apparently isn't, ahem, a fan of the 18th at Sedgfield.

"I was just happy to make par on 18 the first two times around," describing Donald Ross' tough closing stretch. "I have nightmares about that hole."

Oddly, too, Stadler seemed to imply that the hole wasn't even either fair or set up correctly, as he quickly backtracked on his statement and declined to discuss further the problems with the 18th. He was willing, however, to talk about his habit of scoreboard watching, stating that he is "addicted" to [on-course scoreboards] and that he "gets bored out there" and finds himself looking at every single scoreboard.

Which may, you know, explain why he could have shut down mentally sooner than Moore did on what was a grueling day in Greensboro. Or maybe it was just his attitude towards the 18th -- Moore conceded following his win that he's not a fan either.

"It's a tough golf hole. I'm not going to lie -- it's not my favorite golf hole in the world," he said with a smile and a $900,000 (plus change) check immediately to his left.

But Moore also made a superb point as well re: the 18th -- "A hole's a hole." And he added that when he was riding with the rules official back up to the top of the 18th that, at that moment, he was going "to make it my favorite hole in the world."

And considering that his first tournament -- at the time he was an amateur and it was played at Forest Oaks -- on the Tour took place in Greensboro and now his first win is located in the same city, maybe he'll actually rethink that original stance on Ross' "nightmare" of an 18th.

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Latest Golf Photos

Kevin Stadler reacts after missing a birdie putt on the second playoff hole during the final round of the Wyndham Championship PGA golf tournament at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-24-2009 @ 2:48AM

rlbrooks726 said...

Ryan Moore....get a a hair cut, shave and buy some clothes that fit and don't look like something a homeless person would wear.

8-24-2009 @ 8:47AM

thnkugal said...

Hey Brooks. Whats up with the snooty comment. Completely unwarranted and just plain nasty. People like you who make such snide remarks are EXACTLY why the sport of 'golf' is dying a slow death. This kid is adorable precisely b/c he doesn't bow to some homogonized plaid fussy golfy fashion protocol. Good for Ryan. I'll be happy to get back to watching more (no pun) televised golf if underlings like Moore get into the fray. Congratulations Ryan. Thats a good haul of cash.