Aug. 18, 2003
OAKMONT, Pa. - UNLV junior golfer Ryan Moore, 20, of Puyallup, Wash., shot a 5-under par 65 at the Pittsburgh Field Club to lead the field by two strokes after the first round of stroke play on Monday at the U.S. Amateur Championship.
Zach Atkinson, 21, of Coppell, Texas, is in second place with a 67 at the Field Club as well. Steve Conway, 21, of Irvine, Calif., shot 1-under 69 and was the low scorer at the harder and more famous Oakmont Country Club that has been host to seven U.S. Opens.
Thirteen golfers in all finished under par, but only Conway was able to better par at Oakmont.
Moore won last year's U.S. Amateur Public Links championship and earned the chance to play at the 2003 Masters where he made the cut and was paired with Arnold Palmer. But, he came close to not playing in this Amateur.
He missed the application deadline of July 2, but was exempted into the field of 312 last week when he was one of eight amateurs named to the 2003 USA Walker Cup team.
"That just wasn't too bright," said the laid-back Moore of his missing the entry deadline of July 2. Now he can make the most of his second chance.
"I wasn't firing for any flags, but I just gave myself a lot of chances," said Moore, who made six birdies on his day. "I was trying not to be overly aggressive and just cozy everything up there."
In contrast, Conway tried to be as aggressive as possible.
"I tried to be decisive and real aggressive with my swings all day," said Conway, a UCLA senior who had three birdies and no three-putts on the tough Oakmont greens. "Usually putting is the weakest part of my game, but my teammate and roommate, Roy Moon, was a big help as my caddie. He knows my game and can really read greens."
Ben Bunny of Australia, Travis Johnson of Long Beach, Calif., Jessie Mudd of Louisville, Ky., and Peter Tomasulo of Long Beach, Calif., each finished with 68s at Pittsburgh Field Club. Six more came in with 69s. John Holmes, 21, of Campbellsville, Ky., was next at Oakmont with an even-par 70.
Play continues on Tuesday with the second round of stroke play before the field is trimmed to the low 64 scorers who will advance to match play.
Local favorite Sean Knapp, 41, of Oakmont, who is playing in his 10th Amateur, rallied to shoot 78 at Oakmont.
Other notables included 2002 semifinalist Bill Haas of Greer, S.C., who shot a 4-over 74 at Oakmont and Trip Kuehne of Dallas, Texas, who had 69 at the Field Club. Kuehne, 31, was the 1994 Amateur runner-up to Tiger Woods. 56-year-old Greg Reynolds of Grand Blanc, Mich., the reigning USGA Senior Amateur champ, shot 2-over 72 at Oakmont after being even par through 15 holes.
