Tag: Haley Moore

Haley Moore overcomes bullying, becomes face of LPGA’s Drive On series

LPGA rookie Haley Moore is reflecting on being bullied in her past as she excels in professional golf in her first year on tour.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Haley Moore’s Apple watch buzzed throughout her pro-am round on Tuesday at the Inverness Club. The LPGA had launched Moore’s story of overcoming childhood bullying on every one of its social media platforms that morning, and Moore’s wrist was feeling the love.

“My story is truly powerful,” she told the media after the round, “and I want to help every young girl and boy.”

When middle school bullies filled Haley’s backpack with water and threw it in the boys’ bathroom, ruining her favorite Justin Bieber book, Haley called home sobbing. Her mother, Michele, went down to the middle school and let administrators know that “enough was enough.”

“The school could handle this, or our family would,” Moore penned in a first-person essay for the LPGA. “Either way, the pattern of abuse of our daughter was going to end right then and there.”

Now a rookie on the LPGA, Moore is the latest subject of the tour’s Drive On series, a campaign launched last March aimed at highlighting the stories of grit, determination and inspiration on the women’s tour.

Young Haley Moore regularly collected junior titles. (Photo courtesy of Michele Moore)

On Tuesday at the Marathon Classic, the second event of the tour’s restart and Moore’s third tournament as a rookie, the LPGA unveiled a 30-second video spot along with first-person accounts written by Moore and her mother.

“Being bigger, stronger and better than boys on the soccer field didn’t make me popular when I was a kid,” Haley wrote. “Continuing to grow didn’t put me in the popular girls’ club, either. Throughout my school years, I heard every taunt and laugh; I endured every insult and rejection. I tried to brush it off.”

Michele cried herself to sleep many nights, wishing that she could take away her daughter’s pain but also knowing that she couldn’t possibly protect Haley from all the ugliness in this world.

“Three words that we’ve kind of used throughout this process are dream, believe, achieve,” said Michele. “It doesn’t matter how different you are, everybody has a dream. You believe in it and then you go out and achieve it, and don’t let anybody stop you.”

Moore’s parents met as freshmen at Ohio State. Mom played tennis and dad was recruited as the short and long snapper for the football team. Moore’s father, Tom, grew up in Orrville, Ohio, which is situated about 2 ½ hours east of Toledo. Family members had planned to watch her compete at this week’s Marathon Classic, but players are only allowed one guest on the course.

Moore teed it up in 11 tournaments during the LPGA’s 166-day break, winning three times on the Cactus Tour. She closed out her latest victory with a 10-under 62 on a day when no other player in the field broke 70 at Troon North.

“She’s the real deal,” said fellow Arizona alum Alison Walshe. “She’s got a lot of talent.”

Haley stands at nearly 6-foot-2 and graduated from Arizona at age 20. As a junior, her teammates rushed to embrace her on the 18th green at the 2018 NCAA Championship, when she lifted the Wildcats to the national title by draining a 4-foot birdie putt on the 19th hole to defeated top-ranked Alabama.

It was a deeply emotional moment for the Moore family, and one that put the spotlight squarely on a player who felt left out for much of her life

Haley Moore hugs the NCAA trophy. (Photo courtesy of Michele Moore)

She grinded through all three stages of LPGA Q-School last year to earn her card, relying on the kindness of friends and strangers to help cover costs. Nearly 300 donors raised more than $40,000 on GoFundMe to help get Haley to the LPGA and allow her to compete. Now she wants to start a foundation to help kids who’ve been bullied.

“Depending on the statistics you read,” Roberta Bowman, LPGA Chief Brand and Communications Officer, “thirty percent of young teens worldwide experience bullying.”

Despite Haley’s first season on tour being interrupted by a global pandemic, she’s enjoying her new job, noting that former top-ranked Americans Stacy Lewis and Cristie Kerr went out of their way to welcome her.

She’s ready to pay it forward.

“Just don’t let those cruel people who are telling you stuff, judge you,” said Moore. “Just go on and do what you want to do. If it’s playing golf or playing any sport that you want to do, just go out there and keep doing you. You’ll get looked at, but try to wipe it away from your mind and keep going.”

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Golfweek Rewind: Collin Morikawa wins in thriller at Muirfield, Haley Moore racks up Cactus Tour victories

Haley Moore wins again, Collin Morikawa is victorious after a playoff thriller and Tiger Woods is back. Watch the top golf stories recapped.

Tiger Woods reveals when he’ll play again on the PGA Tour, the Ryder Cup is postponed and Haley Moore impresses even while the LPGA is on hold.

Take a look at the week’s top stories on the latest episode of Golfweek Rewind featured below.

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Morikawa wins a playoff thriller

Collin Morikawa earned his second PGA Tour title Sunday after defeating Justin Thomas in a three-hole playoff at Muirfield Village. The golf club will also play host to next week’s event, the Memorial Tournament.

Tiger is back

Tiger Woods will compete on the PGA Tour for the first time since February at the Memorial Tournament. Woods, whose last Tour appearance was at the Genesis Invitational, has won the Memorial Tournament five times with his last win coming in 2012.

Ryder Cup postponed

It’s official: The 2020 Ryder Cup has been postponed. The event was scheduled for Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits, but will now be played Sept. 24-26, 2021. The event will also be played in odd-numbered years going forward.

Haley Moore wins again

While many LPGA golfers haven’t competed since the tour paused its season in February, Haley Moore isn’t among them. She’s competed in 12 events since March and even won three of them. That’s why she’s our Hero of the Week.

For more on what LPGA players should expect when the season resumes and a report that China will cancel all 2020 sporting events, watch the latest edition of Golfweek Rewind featured above.

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Golfweek Rewind: July 13 – 17

Golfweek’s JuliaKate E. Culpepper discusses the latest news and notes in the world of golf.

Golfweek’s JuliaKate E. Culpepper discusses the latest news and notes in the world of golf.

Haley Moore’s scorching 62 laps the field for a third Cactus Tour title

After the LPGA paused its season due to the coronavirus pandemic, Haley Moore kept competing. She’s won three events since March.

Haley Moore was enjoying a post-round pomegranate cosmopolitan when she answered the phone. She deserved to celebrate after scorching the field with a 10-under 62 in the desert.

The 21-year-old entered the final round trailing LPGA veteran Alena Sharp by one stroke at Troon North. Moore wound up winning this week’s Cactus Tour event by nine. No other player in the field broke 70 in the final round.

Two-time major champion Anna Nordqvist finished fourth. Karen Kim played alongside Moore on Friday and aced the 13th hole en route to a 70 and a third-place finish. Kim bought Moore and any other takers a beer after the round.

 

Moore won last week’s Cactus Tour event at Stallion Mountain by three strokes after a final-round 64. She has now won three times on the Cactus Tour since the LPGA stopped staging tournaments due to COVID-19. (The superstitious Moore also wore the same outfits for all three rounds this week as she did last week.)

“It’s definitely going to be pretty high,” said Moore of her confidence level when the LPGA restarts on July 31 in Toledo, Ohio.

The 62 included two eagles in the span of three holes on Nos. 9 and 11. Moore hit both par 5s in two and drained a 20-foot putt on the ninth and a 4-footer on the 11th. It tied her personal low, set when she was in middle school.

Moore is in the field for the first two events in Toledo, Ohio: LPGA Drive On Championship and Marathon Classic. She’ll have to qualify out of those to earn a spot in either of the fields in Scotland. The former Arizona standout is ready to make whatever last-minute arrangements are necessary to make that trip should she punch her ticket.

John Chance, the caddie she met at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, will be back to work for her in Toledo and will remain on the bag for the rest of the year. Chance lives in Georgia and caddies at Augusta National.

Moore played in a dozen tournaments during the LPGA’s coronavirus break, including 11 on the Cactus Tour.

“I’m just happy that Mike (Brown) was able to keep this tour going,” said Moore of the Cactus Tour owner who barreled on in the Arizona desert despite early criticism. “This tour helped me get ready for Q-School before I became a pro.”

And now it has given her a bona fide hot streak heading into Phase II of her rookie year.

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Playing through a pandemic: Some pros like Haley Moore barely slowed down

Never has a rookie year on the LPGA looked stranger, with lifelong dreams being halted almost as soon as they’d begun.

When the LPGA restarts the 2020 season in Toledo, Ohio, it will be a reunion of sorts for Haley Moore.

Her parents met as freshmen at Ohio State. Mom played tennis and dad was recruited as the short and long snapper for the football team. Moore’s father, Tom, grew up in Orrville, Ohio, which is situated about 2 ½ hours east of Toledo. She has family on both sides in the area and several planned to make the trip to the Marathon Classic in early August to watch her compete.

With the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament deciding to close next week’s event to spectators, however, it’s unclear whether or not the Marathon will carry on as ticket sales and pro-ams are vital to the event’s bottom line.

Never has a rookie year on the LPGA looked stranger, with lifelong dreams being halted almost as soon as they’d begun. Everyone has handled the prolonged break and barrage of bad news differently.

Moore, one of the bright lights in this year’s rookie class, might be the most tournament-ready player at the new LPGA Drive On Championship later this month at Inverness. While some players have gone five months without competing, Moore has teed it up in 11 tournaments since mid-March.

(Courtesy Haley Moore)

At her latest, the Cactus Tour event at Stallion Mountain in Las Vegas, Moore carded a final-round, course-record 64 to win by three strokes. It marked her fourth title at Stallion Mountain and second Cactus Tour title since the LPGA shut down in mid-February. How many course records does that give Moore?

“I don’t know,” she said, with a laugh, “there are so many.”

Gemma Dryburgh knows how important it is to feel a scorecard in hand – not to mention a trophy. The latest winner on the Rose Ladies Series said it’s impossible to know exactly where one’s game stands without competition.

The Scot was prepared to fly out next Monday for the U.S., in time for a two-week quarantine in Texas, before the two-tournament swing in Toledo. Even with the next two LPGA events in Scotland, Dryburgh considered it worth the effort to come to the U.S. given that there were two tournaments.

Now with Marathon back in question, however, she’s not so sure.

The Old American Golf Club, host of the Volunteers of America LPGA event, in The Colony, Texas, offered LPGA players an honorary membership last year. Dryburgh took them up on the offer and it’s coming in handy as she and her caddie plan to stay there during quarantine with her host family from the last two years.

“I’ll keep to myself as much as possible,” she said of going back and forth from the house to the club.

Everything is back up in the air though after the Memorial’s news.

Career breakthroughs have come in surprising places for many players. Both Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi, the two stars of last year’s inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur, won their first professional titles during the COVID-19 break along with two-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion Kristen Gillman. Kupcho, a Colorado native, broke through at the CoBank Colorado Women’s Open at Green Valley Ranch for a $50,000 prize, which is mammoth in today’s mini-tour landscape.

Fassi won her first professional title on a tour many had never even heard of until this break – the Women’s All Pro Tour. The former Arkansas standout went wire-to-wire at the Cooper Communities NWA Classic, winning about 30 minutes from the site of her NCAA triumph on the Razorbacks’ home course. Fassi won $7,500.

Gillman also won her first pro title on the WAPT in her home state of Texas.

Patty Tavatanakit, another promising rookie on the LPGA, won an Eggland’s Best event in central Florida last month and pocketed $1,500.

Several players have taken to playing in men’s mini-tour events, with Symetra Tour player Emily Pedersen beating a field full of men on the Ecco Tour last month in Denmark.

LPGA veteran Mina Harigae hasn’t competed in as many Cactus Tour events as Moore, but she has won four of them, rediscovering the joy of competing in the process.

This week Dryburgh will join several other LPGA pros and a host of LET players and up-and-comers for the first women’s professional event ever held at Royal St. George’s. The links course was set to host the men’s British Open next week before it was canceled.

“They’ve got the rough set up like they would’ve for the Open,” said Dryburgh. “It will be a good challenge.”

These days challenges are the only thing that’s not in short supply.

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LPGA rookie Haley Moore wins Cactus Tour event during coronavirus pandemic

The Cactus Tour continues amid the coronavirus pandemic and Haley Moore is the latest winner.

When Haley Moore collected her trophy, she asked Cactus Tour owner Mike Brown if he had any toilet tissue or sanitizer to go along with the $2,500 check. Brown threw in a roll at last week’s stop and, well, every little bit helps.

As of now, golf has been deemed an essential activity in Arizona, which means Brown divvied up a $6,650 purse among six pros. There were a total of 17 players competing at Sun City Country Club. Moore, an LPGA rookie, shot 65-69-69 to win by two strokes over Symetra Tour player Sophia Popov.

With the LPGA on a break due to the coronavirus outbreak, Moore has competed on the Phoenix-based mini-tour for the past three weeks.

“Really, this is all we can do right now,” said Moore, who drove in from California. “I’d rather do this than just sit at home.”

Brown said he has fielded a handful of emails and texts in recent weeks from critics who believe that hosting events during a pandemic is irresponsible and unsafe. There’s certainly been plenty of chatter on social media about the subject. Someone even sent an email to Sun City this week.

Still, Brown maintains that he doesn’t feel any pressure.

“There were 219 rounds of golf played out here the first day,” said Brown. “We had 17 girls. They’re not attacking the members. They’re not attacking the course.”

For those who are opposed to the idea of organized competition, Brown asks, “Does that mean that a $5 Nassau can’t be played in a men’s group?”

Players went off in twosomes in two carts. Moore said the carts were sanitized before and after the round. The rakes are gone and there’s foam cut from pool noodles down in the cups. Sometimes the ball bounces out due to the foam, which has resulted in a new golf term for the times: “My daughter got foamed,” one parent told Brown at the scoring table.

“These girls are much safer playing out here in these conditions than they are going to the grocery store or Costco,” said Brown, who noted that the teenage daughter of a firefighter and a nurse was in last week’s field.

When golf courses were shut down in Sacramento, instructor Noah Montgomery rented a condo and drove to Phoenix with three of his students, including 16-year-old daughter Hanna. The retired first responder said he’s lucky that he bought a 12-pack of toilet paper on the drive out of town.

Montgomery also works with Paige Lee and amateur Anika Varma, who moved to the U.S. from India for coaching. There are no handshakes or hugs these days. They stay in separate rooms in the condo and eat whatever Montgomery cooks on their own time. They play golf during the day and do homework at night.

“I don’t see anything that’s doing harm,” said Montgomery. “I just don’t.”

On the first tee Thursday morning, Brown said, “Excuse me, quiet please,” as Moore teed off. Everyone chuckled because there were no spectators at the event. Brown believes that point gets lost on people when they think of a professional golf tour.

“When I bought the tour my wife said, ‘Do you have live scoring?’” Brown recalled. “She should’ve known better.”

Moore wasn’t the only mini-tour winner in the desert this week. Over on the Outlaw Tour in Buckeye, Arizona, European Tour player Calum Hill took home the top prize of $4,500. And because these mini-tours can’t seem to escape controversy, 14 players were disqualified from that event for playing from the wrong set of tees on a par 3. Ryan French chased the story on the “Monday Q Info” twitter account.

Both tours plan to host tournaments in the Phoenix area next week.

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Arizona ‘stay-at-home’ order: Haley Moore among competitors as Cactus Tour continues

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey’s statewide “stay-at-home” exempts golf courses, right along with grocery stores and pharmacies.

The Cactus Tour will carry on this week in Arizona, despite Governor Doug Ducey issuing a statewide “stay-at-home” order. That’s because Ducey’s “essential services and activities” list includes golf courses, right along with grocery stores and pharmacies.

Arizona has 1,157 reported cases of coronavirus across all 15 counties. There have been 20 deaths.

“We do not want people to feel trapped or isolated in their homes,” Ducey said during his Monday address. “The weather is beautiful right now. Find a way to get out and enjoy it, with physical distancing.”

With that, Mike Brown’s mini-tour schedule rolls on, with this week’s stop at Sun City Country Club. The three-round event will be held March 31-April 2. Last week’s winner, Sarah Burnham, took home a roll of toilet tissue in addition to her trophy and $2,800 paycheck.

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This week’s field has 19 players, including six amateurs. Haley Moore is the only LPGA player in the field. Players went off in twosomes.

Earlier in the month, there were Vegas odds on players like Anna Nordqvist and Amy Olson as some heavy-hitters came out to knock off the rust while the LPGA and the rest of the golf world is on an extended break. Brown has always known that running a tour in the midst of a global pandemic would be controversial. If courses are open and players sign up, he says he’ll continue.

“I can take the heat, so the girls don’t get it,” he said.

Women’s mini tour golf still in action, complete with Vegas odds

This week’s Cactus Tour event is still a go. LPGA stars like Haley Moore, Anna Nordqvist and Amy Olson will tee it up.

Haley Moore was the money leader on the Cactus Tour last year with $13,775. She’s listed at 14/1 odds in Vegas for the Moon Valley Tournament, which kicks off this afternoon. Fellow LPGA players Anna Nordqvist and Amy Olson are 11/2. Nordqvist opened with a 64 on the same course at a men’s mini tour event earlier this month.

With golf tours around the world canceling tournaments at warp speed due to the coronavirus, Mike Brown is committed to carrying on in the desert.

“The only time that we will have more than 10 people together,” said Brown, “and maybe not even then as some will have gone home, is when I write checks at the end of the deal.”

Brown, 66, has owned the Cactus Tour for past decade and has nine events on his schedule between now and May 8. Not a single course has called, he said, to cancel. They have called to make sure he’s still coming.

“I’ve got parents that are calling me wanting to get their kids over here,” said Brown. “They don’t seem to be overly concerned otherwise. These girls are independent contractors.  I don’t call any of them. They called me to see if they can play. It’s just that simple.”

The field for this week’s event in Phoenix is down to 29 players after a handful bowed out. Amy Olson was on her way to play tennis with her husband before this afternoon’s round. She welcomes the opportunity to test out some new equipment.

“To me, the golf course seems like about the safest place to be,” said Olson. “You’re outside. Even if you’re in a threesome you’re not close to each other. From everything we’ve heard, there are no spectators at these events. It’s kind of like getting together with your friends and playing a money game.”

The winner of this week’s event will receive $2,000. Brown, whose daughter Sara played professionally and then worked for Golf Channel as a co-host of “School of Golf,” is paying for the first-tee snacks this week out of his own pocket. The purse is $9,800.

“I have the best starter table in the country,” said Brown, “cookies, crackers, candy, Slim Jims, Clif bars, Luna bars, hair ties, bug spray, sunscreen and sharpies.”

Last year Brown had just over 200 people play his tour throughout the year. The biggest field he’s ever had was 92. He’s carried on with as little as five.

Moore, an Arizona grad, is grateful for the chance to compete in these smaller fields, particularly after the West Coast events that are close to her home were postponed. She’ll play in as many Cactus Events as she can before the LPGA resumes play.

“It’s good just to play,” said Moore, “to stay competitive just because we don’t know when we are going to be out there again.

Meanwhile on the other side of the country, the Eggland’s Best mini tour is carrying on at Timacuan Golf Club in Lake Mary, Florida. They’re currently into the second round. Twenty-six players in the field. Jessica Welch leads the field at 4 under. Holly Clyburn (3 under) and Sierra Brooks (2 under) are the only other players currently under par.

There are nine more events listed on Eggland’s schedule through June.

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Golfweek Rewind: Event postponed due to coronavirus, Haley Moore impresses

In the latest episode of Golfweek Rewind, we recap professional golf tournaments as well as the week’s top golf news.

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A major amateur event in Thailand is postponed in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the USGA and R&A’s controversial Distance Insights Project is released and fan favorite Haley Moore shines in her first first round as an LPGA rookie.

Let’s look back at the week’s top stories on this episode of Golfweek Rewind,

In professional golf, Nick Taylor won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am by four strokes. The win was Taylor’s first on Tour in over five years. In the celebrity competition, the duo of Larry Fitzgerald and Kevin Streelman won for the second time in three years. Next stop on Tour is the Genesis Invitational in Pacific Palisades, California.

Hee Young Park claimed her first LPGA title in over six years at the ISPS Handa Vic Open in Victoria, Australia. On the men’s side of the event, which is sanctioned by the European Tour, Min Woo Lee claimed the title. The Vic Open is a unique setup which features two tournaments on the same course for equal prize money. Next stops for the LPGA and Euro Tour can be found on this week’s episode of Golfweek Rewind.

In other golf news, the R&A’s announced it will postpone the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific Championship, initially scheduled for this week in Thailand, due to concerns of the coronavirus. The R&A hopes to reschedule the event later this year.

For more on the USGA and R&A’s Distance Insights Project, SMU men’s golf coach Jason Enloe’s decision to resign and LPGA rookie Haley Moore’s impressive first LPGA round, watch this week’s episode of Golfweek Rewind above.

Ayean Cho holds one-shot lead at ISPS Handa Vic Open

Ayean Cho holds a one-shot lead over Madelene Sagstrom at the ISPS Handa Vic Open.

Madelene Sagstrom slipped Saturday at the ISPS Handa Vic Open and lost her lead to Ayean Cho heading into the final round at 13th Beach Golf Links in Victoria, Australia.

Sagstrom, who shot rounds of 65-67 leading into the weekend, struggled on the Beach Course’s front nine, finishing the round 2-over 74. The 27-year-old Swede opened with a bogey, but appeared to rally with an eagle on No. 2 and a birdie on No. 3. She stumbled again on Nos. 7 and 8, carding a double bogey and bogey respectively. She shot even par on the back nine.

Sagstrom’s third-round stumble left room for Cho to take the lead at 12 under, one shot ahead of Sagstrom. Cho shot a 70 after rounds of 69-66.

Alana Sharp is in solo third at 10 under and Hee Young Park sits in fourth at 9 under. Tied for fifth are So Yeon Ryu and Pei-Ying Tsai at 8 under.

Rookie Haley Moore, who impressed with a first-round 66, missed the cut for the event’s final round after a third-round 79. Although Moore, who opened with rounds of 66-71, started and ended the day with birdies, she missed Saturday’s cut because of nine bogeys — including five consecutive to finish the back nine — and a double bogey on No. 10. Moore finished her first LPGA event in 41st at 1 under.

Cho and Sagstrom tee off their final rounds alongside Sharp from the Beach Course’s first tee Sunday at 12:30 p.m. local time, Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.

In the men’s event, Min Woo Lee eagled the 18th to take a three-shot lead over Marcus Fraser and Travis Smyth.

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