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DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIP


August 31, 2007


Ryan Moore


NORTON, MASSACHUSETTS

STEWART MOORE: We'd like to welcome Ryan Moore to the interview room at the Deutsche Bank Championship as we continue the PGA TOUR's Playoffs for the FedExCup. You got out there early today with a great round of 65, highlighted with an eagle at the 18th hole, your ninth hole of the day. Maybe a little hiccup at 8 but altogether a great round.
RYAN MOORE: Yeah, I'm very happy with the round. It was just solid throughout the day from off the tee and iron shots, and I wasn't hitting it really close, but fortunately I was making some good length putts. You know, just put together a pretty good round.
STEWART MOORE: The FedExCup is kind of throwing a little bit of a kink into things and all of a sudden there's a little bit of a survive-and-advance mentality. Do you like that?
RYAN MOORE: I do, actually I like it a lot. I really love everything about it, everything that's happening, how everything's playing out. I think that keeps it interesting, keeps it fun and keeps you grinding, definitely, out there, working as hard as you can to keep moving up and getting into those last couple events.

Q. How much attention do you pay to what you have to do, or do you just --
RYAN MOORE: Honestly I really haven't paid as much attention as I probably should. Like last week I missed the cut, and I'm thinking, the way the points go and how it works, I'm figuring I'd drop spots or something when I missed the cut, and I only moved backwards one spot. Just kind of seeing little stuff like that, how it plays out, it gave me a little bit of comfort about this week, knowing that I can't move back far enough to miss next week.
I'm trying not to think about it too much. I'm just trying to go out there and play as good as I can and win a golf tournament because that's the way you take care of everything.

Q. I think you've missed four cuts in your last seven starts. Is that a misleading stat, and if not, what's turned your game around?
RYAN MOORE: You know, I've been inconsistent this year, for me, which is not really my game and not really how I play. But really this week my swing has been feeling really good the last couple weeks, better than it's felt all year long, ever since the injury and surgery and all that stuff.
I still hadn't quite landed on where I wanted my swing to be and where it felt comfortable and I feel like I can do something consistent with the golf ball every time I go out to the golf course. And finally the last couple weeks I feel like -- I actually struck the ball great last week, but I just putted terrible for me, a few three-putts and hitting it close a lot for birdies and not making them.
So I've actually been feeling really, really good lately, but just the scores haven't just quite been put together. One day I wouldn't strike the ball very good and putt well, and the next day I wouldn't putt very well but strike the ball good. It just wouldn't add up.
Finally today I struck the ball really solid, not great but very solid. I controlled the ball well, put it into places I wanted to be in, capitalized on a few good close shots and made a couple that I probably shouldn't. So that adds up to a good score.

Q. Are you back to the way you would set up prior to the surgery, or are you still doing that funky --
RYAN MOORE: Yeah (laughing), I'm back to normal, completely normal, exactly how I was before, not lifting the club up anymore. Last year at this time I was doing that.

Q. You really needed to do that just to play without pain?
RYAN MOORE: Yeah, I honestly could not start with the club down on the ground. Well, I could, but one swing out of every two or three, I couldn't lift the club up almost, it would start hurting so bad. Something about that just relieved the pressure and the strain and made me able to swing the golf club. For a while last year that really helped.

Q. You played pretty well that way, didn't you?
RYAN MOORE: Yeah, I had three Top 10s and a 12th doing it that way.

Q. Did you continue doing it longer than you might have because you were getting some success with it?
RYAN MOORE: No, it still hurt when I had done it and I just went ahead and played out the whole season with it. Finally after the off-season I had some time to rest and my hand felt better at the beginning of the year. It finally just felt comfortable, so I could get back to swinging normal, not having to lift it up.

Q. Did you learn anything about mechanics in general because of that experience?
RYAN MOORE: Well, it was actually a drill that I've done a lot, and that's why I had the comfort with it. I had played a few rounds here and there doing it because it makes me have a good shoulder turn, not pick it up with my hands too much, do some really good things for my swing. I had a comfort with it, struck the ball really well when I practiced that way, and a few rounds at home just joking around where I'd play nine holes or something doing that just to work on my swing, but it always felt good, so there's a comfort there with it. I think it's definitely helped me swing. In the long run it's definitely helped it.

Q. You would start with it just up here?
RYAN MOORE: No, my hands were in the exact same position as where I would normally do it at address but I would just lift the club up to parallel and turn from there.

Q. Is that how you hit on a solution is because you had done it before as a drill?
RYAN MOORE: Yeah, it was at the PGA last year that I figured it out, and it was the Tuesday -- I couldn't pick a club up, it was hurting so bad, because I had really kind of tweaked it again at The International the week before.
I took Monday off, I tried to hit a couple lob wedges, couldn't even do it. Next day, same thing, I couldn't lift the club. I was taking Advil trying to make it go away and trying to do whatever I could to make the pain go away, and I couldn't.
Just for some reason, I have no idea why, but I lifted the club up like that and swung and it didn't hurt. I thought, man, I have a chance to go play like this if I had to, so I practiced for a couple days and went out and did it and somehow finished Top 10.

Q. How long did you do that?
RYAN MOORE: I don't know, three months maybe, four months. I did it from starting the PGA last year all the way through the end of this last year. Anything I played, that's how I played. And then the beginning of this year it was back to normal.

Q. When did you have surgery?
RYAN MOORE: March 26th of last year.

Q. '06?
RYAN MOORE: Yeah, last year, '06.
STEWART MOORE: If we could quickly go through your birdies and bogeys today and your eagle.
RYAN MOORE: Well, I started on the back side but we'll start on No. 1 -- we'll start on the back side actually because that's just how I think of things.
Started out, hit it way right into the trees actually on 13, terrible tee shot, and had a pretty decent lie and had to hit this big hook around back into the middle of the trees, through the trees, up over them, knocked it to about 25 or 30 feet and made it.
And then a couple holes later, 15, it was a nice little driver, 9-iron from about 145 or so to probably 20 feet, 30 feet or so again, and made that one.
And then 18, I hit driver, had about 220 or so to the pin, hit a 21-degree hybrid to probably 15 or 18 feet, somewhere in that range, just another good, solid putt, trickled right in there dead center.
Made the turn to No. 1, hit a 5-wood and then a sand wedge to about another 20 feet or so. I was able to make that one, too.
No. 2, knocked it over the green in two with a 5-wood and two-putted from probably about 45 or 50 feet.
And then 5, hit driver, 6-iron to about another about 28, 30 feet or so and made that one.
Then 8, just hit a 5-iron into the bunker and had a terrible lie, left it in the bunker actually, and then splashed it out to about ten feet and then made a ten-footer for bogey. Just to make it interesting, I guess.

Q. Your history on this course? Did you play --
RYAN MOORE: Last year? I finished 12th last year.

Q. I'm trying to remember, I thought I talked to you last year, were you one of the ones that didn't like the 4th hole, the old 4th hole?
RYAN MOORE: I was fine with it. I don't know, I like what they've done with it, but I was fine with that hole. It was a decent hole.

Q. How did you play it today?
RYAN MOORE: I hit driver in the bunker, which was a terrible place to be because of that pin today. I splashed it out to about 15, maybe 12 feet and just missed it.

Q. A few guys who got into that bunker said it's a real awkward bunker shot?
RYAN MOORE: Yeah, it was awkward, unless you somehow get lucky enough to stand on the upslope, but if it falls onto the flat, the green is chasing away from you and it's a really tough shot. You want to keep it right of that green if at all possible. It's kind of tough to make yourself do.
STEWART MOORE: Ryan, great playing, good luck this week.

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