Former Rebel Moore scores PGA Tour win in Shriners Open tourney

Ryan Moore had the talent. He had the home-course knowledge. He had the support of his adopted hometown.

The recipe for success was all there for Moore at TPC Summerlin, and the former UNLV standout made sure he didn't mess it up Sunday.

Playing smart, low-risk golf and not wilting under the pressure, the 29-year-old Moore prevailed over Brendon de Jonge to win the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open by one shot with a tournament-record four-day total of 24-under-par 260.

Moore, who shot 5-under 66 Sunday, earned $810,000. He and his wife Nichole are expecting their first child within the next month.

"It's been an unreal week," Moore said. "This is really an important event for me. To play well and come out on top in front of family and friends, it's unbelievable."

The win was Moore's second in seven years as a professional - his first was the 2009 Wyndham Championship - and boosted him 11 spots to No. 25 on the PGA Tour money list with $2,858,944. His top-30 position puts him in line to be invited to the 2013 Masters, and he also earned exempt status on tour through 2014.

Moore became the first player to win after leading the first round of the Shriners Open since the tournament format went from 90 to 72 holes in 2004. It was also the 18th Tour win by a former member of the UNLV golf program.

"I had to take a lot more pictures after this win," Moore joked.

Moore, who a week ago was inducted into the Las Vegas Golf Hall of Fame, came into the week with confidence. He finished third at the Tour Championship on Sept. 23 and his game had come around. He was making putts and had prepared well at TPC Summerlin, a course he knows well.

Moore only cooled somewhat over the weekend after starting Thursday with a 10-under 61 to tie the course record. Moore followed with steady rounds of 68 and 65 to share the lead with de Jonge and Jonas Blixt heading into Sunday.

"Coming in, you know you have to be in the 20s (under par) to win," Moore said. "After Thursday, I was thinking I'm almost halfway there."

As Moore and de Jonge made the turn Sunday tied at 21 under, their stroke-play battle essentially became a nine-hole match-play event. They battled toe to toe after Blixt faded with his inability to make birdies. Blixt finished third, four shots behind Moore.

Jason Day briefly played himself into the mix with a course-record front side of 28. But after pulling within two of the lead, he too faded on the back. Day wound up fourth, six shots back.

"I wasn't really looking at it that way," Moore said of his one-on-one battle with de Jonge. "I was focusing on my game and keeping my head down, and play the golf course the way I wanted to play it."

The tournament basically came down to one errant shot as de Jonge sprayed his tee shot at the par-5 16th into the trees along the right side. He had no choice but to chip back out into the fairway. Moore, playing steady and intelligently, kept his ball in the fairway.

He reached the green safely in two and would go on to make birdie and break the deadlock to reach 24 under.

"Any time you win, you come to some point where you've just got to hit a shot, and it all rides on that," Moore said of his approach shot on No. 16. "I knew that was my chance to make eagle or birdie, to keep moving forward and keep putting pressure on Brendon."

De Jonge was unable to pull even. Moore avoided danger at the troublesome par-3 17th, then conservatively put his second shot at the par-4 18th about 19 feet from the hole.

"I thought I gave myself a reasonable chance on those last four holes," Moore said. "I knew where to hit it, where to miss it and what the putts are going to do."

De Jonge, from Zimbabwe, bemoaned his tee shot on the 16th after failing to gain his first Tour win in 146 attempts.

"It's a little disappointing," he said. "But hat's off to Ryan. He played great, especially down the stretch. There were a couple of tough shots in there at 17 and 18, and he pulled them off when he needed to.

"I played nicely all week. It's just tough when one bad tee shot beats you. But that's golf."

In the end, it was Moore standing with the trophy alongside Timberlake, who was making his last appearance at this event after five years as host.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.