• Moore one-shot back of co-leaders – including Tiger – in Shanghai
After a season without a sponsor, Puyallup’s Ryan Moore has signed a multi-year deal with little-known Scratch Golf to play with their irons and wedges.

The contract was finalized Thursday prior to Moore teeing off in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, China.

Not only will he become the first PGA Tour player to sign with Scratch Golf and use their irons, the 26-year-old from Cascade Christian and UNLV also became a part-owner in the company, which originated in Eugene, Ore., in 2003 and is now based in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Mike Moore, his father and president of Moore Sports Management, said the family flew to the company’s headquarters a month ago, and spent a day testing the product.

Ryan Moore put the clubs in his bag for the first time at the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children tournament in mid-October, and used them again a week later at the Frys.com Open. He posted back-to-back top-10 finishes.

“They’re passionate about high-quality traditional classic golf clubs that are custom-fit for the player,” Mike Moore said of Scratch Golf. “They’re for the serious golfer who knows what he wants.”

Ryan Moore had used Ping irons pretty much his entire life – and signed a multi-year deal with that company when he turned professional in 2005.

That contract expired prior to this season, and Moore had tested “nine to 10” sets of irons throughout the season, his father said. In fact, when he won at the Wyndham Championship in August, he used the set of irons he won every significant amateur event with in 2004, including the U.S. Amateur.

But he decided to go a different direction, with an up-and-coming firm. Moore will use the company’s SB-1 Muscleback irons.

Todd Milles: 253-597-8442

todd.milles@thenewstribune.com