Puyallup’s Moore wins Publinx for second time

Ryan Moore needed just 31 holes to beat Dayton Rose in Saturday’s 36-hole match-play finals and win his second U.S. Amateur Public Links championship in Maple Grove, Minn.

Moore, of Puyallup, Wash., and a senior-to-be at Nevada-Las Vegas, built a five-hole lead through 14 en route to a 6 and 5 victory over Rose. The win capped Moore’s dominant week of golf at Rush Creek Golf Club, where he never trailed in his final five matches, covering 88 holes.

“I love having the lead,” Moore said. “I enjoy being the guy people are coming after. But I put more pressure on myself to succeed than anyone else could put on me.”

Moore, who won medalist honors at the NCAA championship last month by six strokes, claimed the Public Links’ Standish Cup for the second time in three years and secured a berth in the 2005 Masters. He’s now 13-1 in match play at the last three Public Links championships.

Moore also became the Public Links’ first multiple winner since David Berganio won in 1991 and 1993. He’s the eighth multiple winner in the 79-year history of the event and the first player to win the NCAA individual championship and the Public Links title in the same year.

“To win it once is great, to win it a second time is just amazing,” Moore said. “I never really beat myself this week. I just kept hitting good shots, stayed patient with myself and was never too stressed out.”

Moore already had an impressive resume before the Links. He played in the 2002 U.S. Open; played practice rounds with Arnold Palmer and later made the cut at the 2003 Masters; played in the 2003 Walker Cup; and has earned collegiate All-America honors three times at Nevada-Las Vegas.

Rose, of Midwest City, Okla., a senior-to-be at Oklahoma State, was Public Links runner-up for the second year in a row. “Ryan has the best game in the world as far as amateurs,” Rose said. “He’s got everything covered. He hits it straight, he hits it long, and it seems like every putt within 12 feet was automatic.”

Moore said putting has been the key to his 2004 hot streak.

“Putting really creates momentum in match play and can really control the matches,” Moore said. “If you know you can hit it to 15 feet and make the putt, it takes so much pressure off your irons and wedges.”

Rypien tied for second at Tahoe

Billy Joe Tolliver chipped in for an eagle to take a two-point lead over Rick Rhoden, Dan Quinn and Post Falls’ Mark Rypien through two rounds in the American Century Celebrity Championship at Lake Tahoe, Nev.

Tolliver, a former NFL quaterback who won the 54-hole event in 1996, had a birdie, a double bogey and the rest pars to shoot a 1-under 71 and total 47 points in the modified Stableford scoring system at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.

Byrd leads at B.C. Open

Jonathan Byrd shot a 4-under-par 68 to maintain his one-shot lead after three rounds of the B.C. Open in Endicott, N.Y.

Robert Gamez, Ted Purdy, Tommy Tolles, Notah Begay, and John Morgan each trailed by one shot. Purdy, Gamez and Tolles each shot 65, Begay had a 66 and Morgan a 68 to finish at 201.

Estill, Yang share LPGA lead

Michelle Estill shot a 5-under 67 (6-under 138 after 36 holes) to share the lead with Young-A Yang after the rain-delayed second round of the Giant Eagle LPGA Classic in Vienna, Ohio.

The start of the second round was delayed by 2 hours, 15 minutes. More rain is predicted for today’s final round. Rathdrum’s Tracy Hanson (75-74–149) is well off the pace.