Haley Moore walked into the Jim Click Hall of Champions at McKale Center on Tuesday and was immediately brought back in time.
It wasn’t only that she was surrounded by Arizona photos and trophies from the past. There was specific piece of hardware that spoke to her — the 2018 national championship for women’s golf.
Moore was a member of the team that took a magical ride that spring. The Wildcats overcame obstacle upon obstacle, from qualifying for the round of 15, then beating Baylor in a sudden-death playoff to make the next cut as one of the top eight teams to advance. Next, the Wildcats knocked off No. 1 UCLA and No. 5 Stanford to make the finals against No. 2 Alabama.
It all came down to the final pairing — Moore and Bama’s Lakareber Abe — in a match that went to an extra hole. Win it and Arizona would take home its third national title — its first in 18 years. Lose it and the Wildcats would finish as runners-up for the third time.
It was what all athletes dream of. It’s what plays in a loop in their heads during all those grueling hours of practice: match on the line, you putt and you win the title.
And that’s exactly what happened. With all eyes on Moore, she calmly stepped up to her ball and made the 5-foot putt to bring the trophy back to Tucson.
The photo that is etched in everyone’s mind is one of all her teammates surrounding her, celebrating and jumping up and down.
Arizona players mob Haley Moore, center, after the Wildcats defeated Alabama for the national title in 2018.
Moore, who is now in her fifth year as a professional golfer, carries the moment that defined her collegiate career with her. That’s why stopping by to see the actual trophy in person is special.
“Every time I (am in Tucson), I have to always go in there and look at it, because it just brings goosebumps,” Moore said. “I have great memories, and I know it’ll be there forever, which is nice.”
Moore, who was a candidate for the LPGA’s Rookie of the Year in 2020, is in Tucson this week to compete in the Casino Del Sol Golf Classic at Sewailo Golf Club, which starts Thursday.
Moore, 24, didn’t perform well enough to keep her status on the LPGA Tour and is fighting to get it back.
Moore and her title teammates, Bianca Pagdanganan and Gigi Stoll, who also play on the Epson Tour, are very familiar with the course. The Wildcats spent hours practicing and playing matches at Sewailo. Moore thinks this might give them a slight advantage.
“The back nine is a little bit different setup than the front nine,” Moore said. “You need to play smart golf instead of trying to be really aggressive, like you can on the front. I feel like if you just play smart and be patient on that back nine, birdies will come ... because you know you have the front nine to score.
“(There is also an advantage) on the greens. Putting on them for so many years, you know what the breaks are going to do. It’s just the small things of knowing where to hit it.”
For Moore, it’s also plus to have her Wildcat family on the road with her. They hang out and play practice rounds together. They even have a few side bets to keep things interesting. It helps make the grind not so much of one.
The UA women’s golf team celebrates its 2018 national championship in its return to Tucson. Haley Moore, holding the trophy, sunk the winning putt on the 19th hole to clinch the win over Alabama.
Mental game
Moore said she feels like her game is on an upswing. For her, as with many golfers, it comes down to the mental side of things. Keeping steady and not letting outside criticisms creep into your thoughts is key to playing any sport, especially an individual one.
“I’ve just kind of told myself ... ‘Hey, that happens in golf,’ ” Moore said. “You’re going to have this bad stretch of golf where you think you’re playing well, you’re putting up good scores, but it’s just not quite good enough. Just keep practicing, putting your pedal down to the metal and mentally just being there and not giving up on yourself. You just keep practicing what you want to do, and it will all come together at one point.
“Not every shot is going to be perfect out there. You can’t just get upset with yourself. You have to be like, ‘OK, it’s golf.’ Just deal with it and move on. Go focus on the next shot, because the most important shot in golf is the next one you’re going to hit. You never know, you could chip it in or putt it in, and you’re like, ‘Oh wow! There we go.’ ”
Case in point was last week’s tournament at Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Beaumont, California. Moore put up a 71 in the first round, then shot 74 and 75 to finish at 4 over. Although she wasn’t happy with that performance, one thing that stood out was that she recovered from those bad shots and didn’t dwell on them — they didn’t blow up her entire round or tournament. She was steady, and after every bogey or even that dreaded double bogey, she responded with a par.
That mental fortitude will be the difference when she fights her way back onto the LPGA Tour. Moore has a hunger to get back. She knows what it takes and said it’s all about believing in herself, being positive and playing freely.
Haley Moore hits from the fifth tee during the first round of the U.S. Women's Open at The Olympic Club on June 3, 2021, in San Francisco.
Support, self-talk
It helps that she has many in her corner cheering her on, including her former coaches at Arizona, Laura Ianello and Derek Radley (who’s now at Oregon).
Ianello, who played professionally after winning that 2000 NCAA championship, knows how hard the first years on tour can be. She’s given Moore tips and pep talks along the way. Radley, who Moore ran into Monday night at a local restaurant, reminded her that she has the talent to do big things — so just play.
Moore knows that all it takes is one week; one win could change everything. That’s why she spends all those extra hours on the practice range, hitting putt after putt, chip after chip and drive after drive.
“It’s what I’ve done since Day One. I’ve been playing golf since I was 5 years old,” Moore said. “I’ve had those stretches in junior golf and even in college. I might have had a couple bad events in a row, but I just know that it’s something that I love and I intend on doing it for the for most of my life — as long as it makes me happy. I’m still happy playing the game. I’m still very motivated and being positive to myself that I can get back out there (on the LPGA Tour).
“Just knowing that I can win out there and I want to win. I want to feel that moment of winning a big event. Telling myself every week that it can be my week. I want going in there saying. ‘I want to win. I’m here to win. I’m not here to get second place.’ ”
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Outraged golfer films landscaping crew at The Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain.
