April 10, 2005

By Dave Shedloski

PGATOUR.COM Senior Correspondent

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Reigning U.S. Amateur champion Ryan Moore was pleased to be the low amateur, but his real goals were much more ambitious, as are his future plans.

"It's nice. It means a lot. It's a big part of the tradition here," Moore, 22, a UNLV All-American, said Sunday after he fired a roller-coaster final-round 70 and finished his second Masters below par with a 287 aggregate score, tied for 13th place among the 50 players who made the cut.

He beat Luke List, the U.S. Amateur runner-up, by seven strokes. List, 20, also closed with a 70 for a 6-over 294 total.

Tying for 13th - the same finish posted last year by Casey Wittenberg when he won low amateur honors - allowed Moore to realize one of his two goals. He came to Augusta believing he could possibly capture the title.

"What did I really do? I didn't win the tournament," he said. "I finished in the red; I really wanted to do that, but I have a long way to go."

When he returns in 2006, Moore, also holder of the U.S. Public Links and NCAA titles, said he will be a professional, planning to give up his amateur status after he competes in the British Open at St. Andrews. He does not plan to defend his U.S. Amateur title.

"As far as I'm concerned I've done everything I could possibly do as an amateur," Moore, of Puyallup, Wash., said. "I've wanted everything I've wanted to win. I don't see the point of going back. My first goal of the summer is trying to get my PGA TOUR card."