Puyallup native and RMG Club founder needs just one extra hole to secure the win at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia, the third PGA TOUR win of his career.
Well, that didn’t take long.
It didn’t take long after the start of the 2014 PGA Tour season for Home Teamer Ryan Moore to earn his third-career PGA TOUR win, defeating Gary Woodland in a playoff at this weekend’s CIMB Classic in Malaysia, just the third event of the all-new wrap-around 2014 season schedule.
It also didn’t take long into the playoff for Moore to clinch the win, draining a 5-foot birdie putt on the first hole of sudden-death to knock out Woodland and claim the $1.2 million purse. Playing the par-5 18th hole, Moore stuck an eight iron on the approach to set up the winning putt.
“Playing a playoff with someone like Gary Woodland, I know I don’t want it to last very long,” he said. “I had a great opportunity there on 18 with my third shot, and it was just an absolute perfect number.”
The tournament was delayed throughout the weekend by thunderstorms, including a steady rain during Sunday’s final round that ultimately led to the playoff being pushed back to Monday due to darkness. While most Northwest golf fans were getting ready for bed late Sunday night, Moore and Woodland were headed to the 18th tee in Kuala Lumpur for the first — and, as it would prove, final — playoff hole.
For Moore, the win capped an impressive week. The 30-year-old, who honed his game at his father’s Classic Golf Club in Spanaway (one of three courses that are now part of Moore’s player-friendly RMG Club), fired an opening-round 63 to take the lead on Thursday, then fought his way into the playoff late Sunday with a 60-yard wedge to the 18th green to save par. Woodland could then have won outright with a 10-foot birdie putt, but missed in the gathering darkness to give Moore a second chance at the win.
It’s the third victory of Moore’s career and his second in a little over 12 months, dating back to last year’s win at the Shriners Hospital For Children Open in Las Vegas, where he currently lives with his wife and one-year-old son, Tucker. Moore tied for ninth at the Shriners last week, and is taking full advantage of the new PGA TOUR schedule, in which the traditional “fall series” events now count towards the Fed Ex Cup standings for the 2014 season. With his two strong finishes, Moore currently sits at an all-time high of second in Fed Ex Cup points. He finished 68th in the FedEx Cup in 2013.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing in the fall. I’m not sure why,” he said. “It’s actually kind of funny, I won a week before my son (Tucker) was born last year; I won a week after (his birthday) this year.”
In addition to FedEx Cup points and a sizable purse, the CIMB’s new-found status as a regular-season PGA TOUR event also grants Moore a spot in the field at the 2014 Masters and January’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, and moves him up to 31st in the Official World Golf Ranking, a position high enough to earn entry to just about every other prestigious event on the 2014 calendar.
“Now that it counts, now that it’s a full FedEx Cup event and counts as a win on the PGA Tour, it does so much for you,” Moore says. “To get a win this early in the season, it’s just incredible.”