There was not much horseplay Sunday when Puyallup’s Ryan Moore and Tacoma’s Michael Putnam played a round together for the first time as PGA Tour members.
“It was fun. Both of us played well,” Moore said. “It was a great pairing, one of the better ones I’ve had.”
No wedgies. No noogies. No discussion of next month’s rent, as is frequent between roommates.
Sunday was all about golf, and enjoying a rare moment – playing together in the final round of a PGA Tour event – this time at the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in San Diego.
For Moore and Putnam, the first pair from Pierce County to tee it up together as PGA Tour members since the
1960s, it was their first competitive round together since the 2004 NCAA West Regionals at Sunriver Resort in Oregon when they were college juniors – Moore playing for UNLV, Putnam for Pepperdine.
Sunday, Moore got the better of it, closing with a 3-under-par 69 despite a bogey on No. 18 of the menacing South Course. Putnam had a 2-under 70.
Both finished the tournament at 7-under 281 and tied for 16th – eight strokes behind winner Tiger Woods. Each pocketed a paycheck of $80,600.
Before they took the first tee, they informed the starter they wanted to be introduced as being from Tacoma – not Las Vegas, where Moore resides, or University Place, which Putnam calls home. During the season, Putnam rooms with Moore in the latter’s Las Vegas home.
“We wanted to let people know where we grew up,” Putnam said.
Tour officials inform golfers after rounds about the next day’s grouping. Moore received a text message Saturday night that he would be teeing off with Putnam and Charley Hoffman, who won the prior week’s Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, at 8:40 a.m. Sunday.
“I text-messaged Michael, and we kind of joked around about it,” Moore said. “I mean, what are the chances of that happening?”
The Tacoma twosome could not have asked for a better partner in Hoffman, who is from Las Vegas and has played plenty of rounds with Moore and Putnam.
It didn’t take long for the fun to start. On the par-4 first hole, Moore tapped in a 1-foot birdie putt, while Putnam’s 15-yard shot from the sand bunker hopped into the hole.
“We kind of smiled and laughed,” Putnam said.
And that was how the round went. They were loose. They chatted a lot, about golf, about the houses they recently purchased in Pierce County.
“Getting off to the starts we did, we were both comfortable,” Putnam said. “When you’re playing well, you can keep your mind off golf. You don’t want to start thinking about what is going to happen next.”
Putnam went to 4-under on his round by making a third consecutive birdie, rolling in a 20-foot putt on the par-4 10th hole.
He fell back by missing a 3-foot par putt on No. 12.
Then it was Moore’s turn for a little magic, chipping in from the fringe on the par-4 14th hole for birdie, then doing the same on the next hole out of a sand trap.
Moore finished first in the field in par-4 scoring (9-under). If not for a four-putt and four three-putts, he would have been a contender for the lead.
“I struck the ball as well as I have in years,” Moore said. “For a long time, I was salvaging and just making do. (This week), I was hitting all the shots … on the hardest compilation of par-4s you are going to see.”
Moore held a one-shot lead over Putnam before bogeying the par-5 finishing hole.
“We talked a ton, walked around and were in good spirits,” Moore said. “Hopefully we’re doing that quite a bit in the future, but higher up (on the leaderboard).”
Todd Milles: 253-597-8442
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