These '05 newsmakers are worth tracking next year

	Ryan Moore, who dominated amateur golf at UNLV, could be poised for a breakthrough victory on the PGA Tour in 2006. AP

It's almost time to take your eyes off the rearview mirror. I'm talking to those few of you NOT glued to the television watching Natalie Gulbis in her own reality show on The Golf Channel, although based on the episode I tried to watch, calling it a reality show is a serious stretch.

We've hashed and rehashed 2005, the year in golf, because bored golf media types have nothing better to do around Christmas. You get the picture, already. Tiger Woods is back. So is Colin Montgomerie. Jason Gore is a player, not just a Cinderella story. Women's golf is hotter, thanks to a posse of young stars, than anytime since Nancy Lopez was young herself. And Hale Irwin refuses to fade away -- the most astounding statistic in golf is that Irwin's winnings as a senior exceed, gulp, $22 million.

Sometimes, you have to look back to look ahead, however. So here's my list of things (in no particular order) you probably didn't notice in 2005 that just may prove to be important in 2006 (not counting my stem cell research that a kindly Korean professor helped me with).

Ryan's express

Lost in the details of the NFL season, rumors about the PGA Tour's rejiggered schedule that would provide something similar to NASCAR's Nextel Cup and buzz about Woods, in general, was the performance of tour rookie Ryan Moore. The guy who ran the tables in amateur golf from 2004 tied for 13th at the Funai Classic at Walt Disney World at the end of October to assure himself a spot among the top 125 money winners and a tour card for 2006, even though he played mostly on sponsor's exemptions last summer after finishing school at UNLV. That made him the first player since Woods to go directly from college golf to the PGA Tour without passing go and collecting a sidetrip through the qualifying school.

Moore is only 22 and he's got game. It'll be an upset, frankly, if he doesn't win a PGA Tour event in 2006 or at least come very, very close. He's a nice guy and best of all, he's someone you can root for. He isn't a cliche -- a 6-foot-2 blond bomber with a textbook swing and a silver-spoon background. Moore comes from the Seattle area, has kind of a squat but athletic build, owns a unique but effective swing that reminds me a little of Johnny Miller, thinks controlling the ball is better than crushing it massive distances and doesn't have a swing coach, a guru, a shrink, a trainer or an entourage featuring someone who's not in the family. Moore is going to be a winner on the tour. Here's an out-on-a-limb call: He'll make a serious run at qualifying for the 2006 Ryder Cup team.

The Daly planet

John Daly is another reality show waiting to happen on The Golf Channel, and it's hard to imagine it won't be a hit. One thing Daly isn't is boring. The 2005 season was big for Big John. He lost twice in playoffs, vaulted way up in the world rankings (although he still didn't reach his goal, which is to crack the top 20 for the first time) and began to resemble the player of promise that we witnessed in his magical 1991 PGA Championship victory.

You probably noticed his good play. While that's a positive, his career history has been a lack of sustaining anything. The stuff you didn't notice about Daly in '05 may be telling. He skipped the champions' dinner at the Old Course during the British Open at St. Andrews. It wasn't just another blowhard pro-am dinner; this was the champions' dinner before Jack Nicklaus played the Open for the last time. Daly's excuse, which he thinks people bought, is that he didn't bring a coat. "I'm not into dinners, man. You can't get a coat and a tie on this fat boy," he joked.

He broke his hand late in the year under circumstances he has yet to explain. It's exactly this lack of awareness and responsibility that has made Daly the only two-time major champion who has never played on a Ryder Cup team. He's not consistent on the course, although he's potentially brilliant, but his obvious inability to deal well with authority makes him a hot potato, if not a hand grenade, as a potential wild-card pick for the team. Hal Sutton was wary of Daly as a pick in 2004 and no doubt Tom Lehman will be in 2006. If Daly is going to make the Ryder Cup team next year, he's going to have to finish among the top 10 in points -- he's not going to be a pick. His easy-going personality and long-ball style would be assets to the American team, if it could only count on him not self-destructing or causing an international incident.