At 19, he played Masters round with Arnold Palmer. Here’s what that was like | Lifestyle | GOLF.com
The U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship has been defunct since 2014. But in its day, it qualified as a big deal.
No one knows that better than Ryan Moore.
In 2002, as a 19-year-old sophomore at UNLV, Moore captured the Public Links title and the perks that came with it, including a Masters start.
Not only did he peg it at Augusta National the following spring but he also got to pace the fairways alongside a legend. Moore was paired with the King, four-time Masters champion Arnold Palmer.
Palmer was 73, long past his competitive prime but still brimming with competitive fire, as Moore recalled on a recent episode of GOLF’s Subpar podcast.
Palmer didn’t hit it far enough to reach most of Augusta’s beefy par-4s in two. But Moore said he could tell that Palmer was still itching to make pars, and maybe even steal a birdie.
His best chance came on the par-5 13th, where Palmer reached the back of the green in three, leaving himself a ticklish 12-footer for birdie. The putt lipped out, prompting Palmer to let loose with an expletive, on a green out of earshot of his fans.
“He got so fired up and cursed so loud,” Moore said. “It was kind of great.”
Another memorable moment came later. Rain had interrupted play that week, forcing players to squeeze in extra holes. Moore said he and Palmer were on the par-5 15th, their 32nd hole of the day, when darkness began to fall. The club sent a van to retrieve Palmer, but an indignant Palmer waved the driver off, insisting he could walk in on his own.
Moore had a choice, albeit not a tough one.
“I wanted to get in the van, but now I’ve got to walk with him,” Moore said. “I’m 19 years old. I’m walking in with Arnie. I’m not going to bail on him.”
It was Palmer’s second-to-last Masters appearance. He returned in 2004 for his 50th and final start.
Moore, meanwhile, would soon have an amateur season for the ages, before going on to a long PGA Tour career. In 2004, he won five major amateur titles: the U.S. Amateur, U.S. Amateur Public Links, NCAA Championship, Western Amateur and Sahalee Players Championship. Back at Augusta in 2005, he finished 13th and earned low-amateur honors.
Podcast co-host Drew Stoltz asked Moore if he had been able to appreciate the magnitude of those experiences at such a young age. (Courtesy of his Masters berths, Moore also got to play practice rounds with Jack Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros).
Moore conceded that he was probably too young to grasp it all. Then again, he added, pegging it with Palmer in a tournament round helped put things in perspective. “It’s hard not to appreciate it when you’re playing with legend,” Moore said.
You can listen to the entire episode here.
