Ryan Moore passes up PGA place for bizarre reason

No sooner was Ryan Moore in the US PGA Championship than he has was out of it – and no, it had nothing to do with COVID-19.

The American was added to the field for this week’s first major of the season after the already-exempt Justin Thomas won the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind.

However, within hours, the five-time PGA Tour winner had withdrawn, citing a “scheduling conflict”.

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A “scheduling conflict”? In the week of a major?

Apparently so.

This time last week, Moore was the ninth alternate for the US PGA and, not fancying his chances of getting in, decided to play in last week’s Barracuda Championship at Truckee (just three hours from San Fran).

According to Golf Digest’s Brian Wacker, Moore didn’t want to play both the Barracuda and PGA. So, when he got into the Harding Park field, against all odds, the 37-year-old turned down the opportunity.

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According to Wacker, his plan is to rest ahead of the lucrative FedEx Cup Playoffs, which get underway in a fortnight’s time in Massachusetts.

To date, Moore has played in 42 major championships, with a best finish of tied-ninth at both the 2006 US PGA and 2017 Masters.

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