Former UNLV golfer Ryan Moore isn’t worried about popularity on social media

So the ball didn’t roll all the way into the cup. But it didn’t need to for Ryan Moore to celebrate the greatest golf experience of his life.

The former UNLV All-American had just clinched the Ryder Cup for the United States by making par at the 18th of Hazeltine National and winning his singles match against Lee Westwood, rallying from behind to do so with an eagle-birdie-par for his final three holes to win 1-up. It was the first win for the U.S. since 2008.

The best part? Moore was the last man picked by captain Davis Love III. And he made Love look like a genius.

“It was an amazing experience,” Moore said. “That’s going to be tough to beat.”

It will be a wonderful memory for Moore, who at age 33 already has a lifetime of great moments thanks to golf. But there’s an opportunity for him to capitalize on his fame, grow his brand and his fan base. That’s what winning does, especially in an individual sport such as golf.

Moore is back in Las Vegas to play in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (he tees off for Thursday’s first round at 12:25 p.m. from the No. 1 tee). He won at TPC Summerlin in 2012 and will attempt to be only the second player to win the event multiple times. Jim Furyk has three titles (1995, 1998 and 1999). His game is in great shape and he earned a career-best $3,701,034 in 2016, placing him 16th on the money list.

He returns to town following a tie for 23rd place at the World Golf Championships in Shanghai last week. He was in contention after a third-round 66, but faltered on the final day with a 3-over par 75. He has been battling jet lag the past few days and he admits the grueling schedule he kept perhaps caught up with him.

“This is 13 out of 16 weeks playing. It’s too much,” Moore said. “But this is my final event of the year. I’m ready for next Monday.”

Moore has always been careful about who he chooses to align himself to. His main sponsor is Mutual of Omaha. His Twitter account has just 8,762 followers, and his Instagram account has only 7,983. He has a private Facebook account, but he doesn’t spend much time on it.

“That’s just not important to me,” he said of being a social media sensation. “I can’t keep up with it. I’ve honestly given it a couple of efforts, but building up something that I’m not even going to use doesn’t seem like a good use of my time at this point.

“This game and playing it for a living takes up a lot of your life and a lot of your time. So that extra time I have I try to be a good husband and try to be a good dad and be there for them as much as possible, which means not sitting on my phone messing around on Twitter and that kind of stuff.”

Moore, who has $24.9 million career earnings, has five PGA Tour victories, but he has never had multiple wins in any of his 12 seasons.

Knowing TPC Summerlin as well as he does and given the shape of his game, he will be one of the favorites to win come Sunday. The Westgate Las Vegas Superbook has him the betting favorite at 15-1.

“Absolutely,” he said when asked if he was putting well enough to win. “I like where my putting has been. These greens are perfect, and obviously I knew these greens well, so there’s an obvious comfort just getting out and playing.”

Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.