'Determined to be the best': Arizona golfer Haley Moore becoming fixture in top five

Golf is an individual sport until it’s not. Like the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup, the Solheim Cup and collegiate play.

Even then, the lines can get a little blurry. An individual needs to have a good round for the team to do well.

Although, for Arizona’s Haley Moore, it’s quite simple.

She knows that working hard on different parts of her game and consistently putting in solid rounds is good for the game — both hers and her teams.

And it shows. In her junior season, she’s won two tournaments and finished in the top five four times. The team has two wins and five top-five finishes.

“Haley is so special,” said UA women’s golf coach Laura Ianello, whose Wildcats play in the Pac-12 Championships Sunday through Tuesday at the Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle. “She is determined to be the best; she works very hard and has the work ethic to reach the highest level. I have seen many great players in my day and her work ethic matches all the good ones. She is a leader on our team — meaning that her scores are consistent and it gives her teammates confidence and she gives a calming effect. Haley, even on her worst day, is an excellent performer and her teammates will always know they can count on her.”

Moore was the No. 5 recruit in the nation and she has lived up to all the hype. After shaking the nerves of her first few tournaments her freshman season, she finished second in the NCAA Championships. This was quite a statement for a freshman and one that entered college a semester early.

Her first victory came last year and was exciting, but also a relief.

Since then she has collected two more individual wins, putting her in a tie for 10 with all-time UA greats Natalie Gulbis and Leta Lindley.

“After those first few tournaments (as a freshman) I figured out what my game needed,” said Moore. “I needed to work harder. In summer kept playing and playing, so game stayed strong. Now I feel like all aspects of my game have improved and there can even be more improvement to make me the best. Lilia Vu (UCLA) is No. 1 right now, she’s had eight individual wins. That is just amazing. To have two or three more wins for my career that would just make it amazing.”

So, that seems the answer the biggest question everyone, including her coach has: Is Moore coming back for her senior season or going to turn professional?

At the moment, she’s coming back. Moore is excited about the Wildcats’ newest recruit, Ya-Chun Chang from Taiwan, who is currently No. 84 in the World Amateur Golf Rankingsl.

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“We’ll have (some top) golfers right there (Gigi Stoll, Bianca Pagdanganan, Yu-Sang Hou and Moore),” said Moore. “I would want to call us possibly the scariest team out there that would make that top run and get up there and possibly win it – if we come up short this year.”

Heading into this season the Wildcats were expected to be in the top five, until Krystal Quihuis jumped to turn pro early on the LPGA’s Symetra Tour mid-season. After hearing Moore’s plan to come back, Ianello said this may have factored into her decision.

“I know having a solid foundation of education before she starts her pro career is very important to her,” said Ianello. “I think Haley’s seeing the effect of how Krystal Quihuis quit the team and quit on her teammates mid-year to turn pro really hurt the team. Haley is a good person and doesn’t want to disappoint her teammates similar to what we all went through in December.”

As a true student of the game, always looking to improve, Moore spends a lot of time practicing with her UA coaches and her personal coach Harry Rudolph, who was a member of the 1992 UA’s men’s NCAA Championship team. One of the tactics that has helped her the most is looking at her stats after every tournament.

“It tells me what I didn’t do well in,” said Moore. “I work on this every week. I spend an hour to an hour-and-a-half working on whatever that was. Like if it was short game or putting or ball-striking. I saw a huge improvement and it helps me individually and my team. That way we won’t drop costly shots and move down the leaderboard.”

Even when she has a bad day, which isn’t too often, it doesn’t take too long to fix. Last time out at the Silverado Showdown, she shot a 74-75 in the first two rounds. After UA assistant coach Derek Radley noticed something not quite right in her swing, he talked to Rudolph. They made an adjustment and Moore shot a 71 and the team finished in third place.

“He (Rudolph) knows my swing,” said Moore. “We don’t work much on it, if there is something it’s a minor thing. It could be an alignment change or (something) a little technical, which was going on with me. It’s an easy fix. My ball-striking was a little bit off in the tournament in Napa. I went home and saw him for three days. I feel a lot better about my game now. I look forward to take it into Pac-12s and postseason.”

Rudolph has helped her with more than just making minor adjustments to her swing. The focus is with her short game and course management — knowing how to recover if you miss a green and where to place it, if you do miss it.

The other familiar face she turns to when she needs advice or even just to take the pressure off, is her older brother, Tyler. He is playing at UC-Riverside this season after transferring from UA.

“(When I was) 5, he was going to the driving range I wanted to go along,” said Moore. “I thought ‘I think I can be like him.’ I started hitting and at first I was super flustered. He said it was OK and told me it would take time, and time, and time, and practice, practice, practice. So I stuck with the time and practice. And now I’m really good. My brother was the key and I would like to thank him for starting me (in the game).”

“When we’re home in the summer we’ll play together. He’ll have me watch his swing or his stroke. And I’ll do the same and he’ll watch me. We kind of do the same thing with our swing so it’s not very different.”