Ryan Moore

Ryan Moore of Puyallup, Wash., won the U.S. Amateur Public Links for the second time in three years and became the eighth multiple winner at the 2004 Championship at Rush Creek Golf Club in Maple Grove, Minn.

Moore, 21, who also won the title in 2002, defeated Dayton Rose, 21, of Midwest City, Okla., 6 and 5, in the 36-hole final. Rose, the runner-up at the Public Links in 2003, was the first player to reach the final in consecutive years since Michael Combs in 1990 and 1991.

"I don't know where to start," Moore said of his second title. "To have won it once is great. The second time, that's just amazing. Just to b part of any USGA championship is a lot of fun, let alone to win. That just makes it more special."

Moore, who won the 2004 NCAA individual title, played in his third USGA final. The senior to be at UNLV was also the runner-up at the 2000 Junior Amateur. His match-play mark at the Public Links is 13-1.

"He's got the best game in the world, as far as I'm concerned, for an amateur," Rose said of Moore. "He's got everything covered. He hits the ball straight, he hits the ball long. His iron shots are precise. It seemed like every time he had it 10-12 feet on.the green, it was automatic."

The only time Moore trailed in six matches (105 holes) was in his 2-and-1 first-round victory when he was 3 down after three holes. He won 45 holes during the week.

While practicing his putting stroke on the evening of the first day of match play with his college roommate and caddie Kirk Brown, he made an adjustment. Afterward, Moore was unbeatable.

"We kind of found something that felt good," said Moore, who had surgery to remove a cyst from his tailbone six weeks earlier. "I went with it. It worked the rest of the week. I felt like I was going to make every 15-to-25 footer I had:"

In the final, Moore had five birdies and two bogeys while taking a 5-up lead after the morning 18. He won holes 13 and 14 to take a 5-up lead but Rose, a rising senior at Oklahoma State, birdied the 15th to reduce the lead. On 18, Rose hit two balls in the hazard to lose the hole and give Moore his halfway edge.

In the afternoon 18, Rose won the 19th hole with a birdie to reduce Moore's edge to 4 up. However, Moore responded by winning the next two holes with an eagle and a birdie, respectively, to go ahead 6 up. His lead moved to 7 up with a birdie on the 26th hole (par-5, 8th). He lost the next hole with a bogey but halved the 31st hole for the victory.