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Home , Chris Riley (golfer), Ryan Moore (golfer)

1998 National Champions

May 30, 1998 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - It was a lucky then failed to make the cut in 1997, led his team “It’s a big thrill coming over from Australia seventh for the UNLV golf team. to the title in only his 10th try with the Rebels. and win it,” McLean said. “I was only a top-five or The top-ranked Rebels, under head coach “This year we have won when we were ten player there and to win it here (in the United Dwaine Knight, withstood a final-round rally from ahead going into the final round, when we were States) means a lot. All of the best players are Clemson and won their first-ever NCAA men’s coming from behind and when we were even,” over here and I came here to play with the best.” golf title by three shots at the University of New Knight said. “The experience that we gained dur- With his 17-under, McLean tied the NCAA Mexico’s Championship Golf Course (par 72, ing the year really helped today. When you win record held by John Inman (North Carolina, 2,748 yards). a lot, you get comfortable with the fact that it will 1984), (Arizona State, 1992) and It marked only the second team national always come down to the final holes. It did today (Texas, 1994) for lowest tourna- championship for UNLV in any sport as the men’s and we were ready.” ment total. basketball team won in 1990. Knight was also impressed with the way UNLV junior Chris Berry, who had a night- The Rebels, who won their record-breaking his team battled from the very beginning of the mare of a tournament in 1996, as he finished seventh tournament of the season, shot a final- season and persevered. “After not making the dead last, led the Rebels and finished in a tie for round one-over-par 289 and finished the tourna- cut last year and losing the players we did, for second place one shot back at 16-under. ment at 34-under-par 1,118, setting the record for this team to gain the No. 1 spot again, coming in “I am so proud of Chris,” Knight said. “For the lowest total in NCAA Championships history. expected to win, and with the pressure, holding on him to comeback and lead us to victory after his The old mark was 23-under par, which was set for the victory makes me very proud.” previous NCAA performance is just so special.” by Arizona in 1992 and repeated by Stanford in Clemson finished 31-under par in second “One of the things that made me play so 1994. place, while Georgia Tech was second at 30-un- well was looking at the scoreboards,” Berry said. UNLV also broke the NCAA Championships der, Oklahoma State was fourth at 25-under and “When the team went low in the second round I record for lowest score after the second-round. Arizona State rounds out the top five, finishing kept looking at the updates on the board and we The Rebels were at 23-under par after the 36-hole 22-under par. kept getting lower and lower. It really fired me up cut, eclipsing the old mark set by Stanford in 1994 Freshman James McLean of Minnesota and I just wanted to help the team.” at 11-under. shot a final-round 69 and hung on for the indi- Also tying for second was Stanford’s Joel Knight, who’s best finish before this year at vidual championship at 17-under-par 271. Kribel, TCU’s J.J. Henry and Clemson’s Charles the NCAA Championships was second in 1996, Warren.

72 1998 National Champions

Jeremy Anderson proudly shows the 18th green’s flag.

Head Coach Dwaine Knight addresses the crowd after winning the championship.

Charley Hoffman and Casey Whalen begin to celebrate. The team in front of the leaderboard.

Knight kisses the 18th green.

This Chris Berry shot UNLV with its championship trophy. saved the championship. Knight and Anderson 73 share a special moment. 1998 National Champions

The Rebels with the trophy at their down- town rally.

Knight shares a moment with his parents at the downtown reception.

Knight addresses his fans after the team arrived back in .

Knight is presented with the Sears Trophy following the victory.

Knight with Lied Foundation The Rebels and Hey Reb pose for a Trustee Christina Hixon. photo in front of their plane.

Knight shows Las Vegas his trophy.

Knight signs an autograph for a lucky fan.

(L-R) Bob Cole, Christina Hixson, 74 Knight, Tom Hartley and Charles Baron at the downtown reception. 1998 National Champions

Knight and the team were presented the Golfweek/Taylor Made No. 1 ranking trophy at the Sept. 12, 1998 football game. Knight and Bill Lunde were honored at the Rebel gear was displayed at the Official All-Star Cafe. Official All-Star Cafe following the championship.

Knight with his wife Debbie and Hey Reb.

The 1997-98 starting five and coaches.

The Sears Trophy.

Following the championship, Steve Wynn hosted the team at Shadow Creek. UNLV in front of a billboard honoring its accom- The Rebels were honored with a plishment of being on top of the polls. procession down Fremont Street 75 in downtown Las Vegas. 1998 National Champions February 3, 1999

76 A Day With The Thunderbirds 1998 National Champions November 8, 1999

77 A Day With The President 1991 National Champion

June 9, 1991

UNLV’s Schutte Wins NCAA Golf Title With 67

Las Vegas Review-Journal of Georgia Tech as UNLV charged from 19th to eighth with a final-round score of 285, the PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- UNLV sopho- best finishing round of the tournament. more Warren Schutte made NCAA history “Absolutely incredible,” Schutte’s coach, Saturday while stopping the historic chances Dwaine Knight, exclaimed after watching the of Arizona State’s Phil Mickelson. Big West Conference Player of the Year win Schutte shot a tournament-low round of his fourth straight tournament on the strength five-under par 67 at Poppy Hills to become the of six birdies and an eagle. “Physically and first foreign-born player to win the NCAA Golf fundamentally his game has improved, but Championships. the biggest improvement he has made is “The key for me today is that I played mentally. His composure now is one of the the par fives at six-under and had four eagle best I’ve ever seen.” putts,” said Schutte, of Durban, South Africa. In team competition, senior Scott Schutte’s four-day 72-70-74-67--283 was DeSerrano shot a 70 and sophomores Jaxon good for a three-shot victory over David Duval Brigman and Craig Hainline added 72s as Oklahoma State won its seventh team championship and first since 1987. The Cowboys, who led after the second round, scored 287 for a 1,161 total to overtake North Carolina. The Tar Heels, who led by three strokes after the third Schutte was on top of the collegiate golf world in 1991. round, shot 297 to finish at 1,168. Mickelson, the U.S. Amateur “This carries a lot of weight for our pro- champion, failed in his bid to join gram,” said Knight, whose team enjoyed its high- Ben Crenshaw, formerly of Texas, est finish ever in the finals after placing 18th last as the only three-time individual year and 27th in 1989. champion. The left-hander, one “This shows a lot,” Schutte said. “We played of only three golfers to win a with a lot of guts and a lot of pride. That says a PGA Tour event as an amateur, lot about the program.” finished in a five-way tie for fourth SCHUTTE BECAME FIRST REBEL at 289. GOLFER INDUCTED TO Rounding out UNLV’s scores UNLV HALL OF FAME were Monte Montgomery, 80-75- Warren Schutte was inducted into the UNLV Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004. He was the school’s first men’s 78-70--303; Chris Leon, 77-74-78- individual national champion in any sport and he also 76--305; Darin Osborne, 80-73-80- holds the honor of being the first-ever Rebel golfer 73--306; and Andrew Raitt, 84-75- inducted. Former Rebel golfers and Chris Riley were both inducted into the Hall of Fame The NCAA crown was Schutte’s fourth straight win. 75-75--309. in 2006. In 2008, UNLV's 1998 national championship team was inducted into the UNLV Athletics Hall of Fame and in 2010, Jeremy Anderson entered the Hall. In 2016, championship squad was honored again by entering the Southern Sports Hall of Fame. The 78 most recent Hall of Fame honor went to Ryan Moore, who was inducted into UNLV's Athletics HOF in 2017. 2004 National Champion June 4, 2004

UNLV’s Moore Wins National Championship

HOT SPRINGS, Va. -- UNLV junior Ryan 1991, and the Rebels captured the team title unsurprisingly earned first-team All-American Moore won the second individual men's golf in 1998. honors. national championship in school history as "I'm really proud of him," head coach Along with the honors, Moore also etched he completed his final round with a 66 at the Dwaine Knight said. "I thought it was a his name into the school record books in a few NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship. fabulous round when he needed it. He's been places. With a total score of 267, he broke Chris Playing in a steady, cold rain, Moore, the so consistent all year, and this was another Berry's school record for low 72-hole score by nation's second-ranked player, won the title great round under tough conditions." five strokes. His 69.38 scoring average also shat- by six strokes over Wake Forest's Bill Haas Moore, of Puyallup, Wash., finished the tered the school's single season record of 70.85 and Arizona's Chris Nallen, ranked No. 1 and 72-hole tournament at 13-under par. He held by Jeremy Anderson, and his career scoring No. 4 respectively. carded rounds of 67, 70, 64 and 66 at the average of 71.15 bested Anderson's 72.01 total. "It's hard to put it into words right now," par-70, 6,679-yard Cascades Course at the He also carded the school's best first, third and Moore said of his win. "It means a lot. This Homestead Resort, including 20 birdies and final round scores in the NCAA Championship, was the goal at the beginning of the year, just an eagle. and his third-round 64 is the lowest total by any to even get here. So to pull out a victory, it's "I wasn't worried about anyone else," Rebel at the national finals. hard to put it into words right now." Moore said. "I was just out there trying to "I've played six rounds of golf with Ryan take care of my own business and play the this week, four rounds and two practice way I knew I could. I knew, with a couple of rounds, and it was pretty special," said Haas. shots lead, that if I went out and played a "He shot a 66 in the final round. I would have solid round, then I'd be virtually uncatchable, had to shoot a 62 just to tie him. So I didn't especially with the rain and the conditions really have a shot. So my hat's off to him. He today. It was that irritating weather, which beat me. I played my game and he played kind of gets to you after a while. But I wasn't better." going out there thinking I could shoot 72 or With the victory, Moore brings home 73 and pull it out. I knew I had to play good UNLV's third national title in men's golf. with these guys chasing me." Warren Schutte won the individual crown in In winning his third tournament of the year, Moore becomes the first player since Arizona State's Jim Carter in 1983 to take the NCAA Championship while playing as an indi- vidual without his team. The win was not just his third of the year, but his third in his last five tournaments. In fact, the Rebel ace has not fin- ished worse than third since late March. Moore won the NCAA Championship by six strokes. He also claimed the Palmer Award, pre- sented annually to the national champion, and In addition to the NCAA title, Moore also won the 2004 U.S. Amateur, U.S. Amateur Public Links, and Sahalee Players Championships.

79 Setting A New Standard

RYAN MOORE

The most heralded player in the UNLV golf program’s history, former Rebel golfer Ryan Moore expe- rienced unequaled success at the collegiate and amateur levels beginning with the summer of 2004. Moore’s college career, which ran from 2001-05, was unparalleled, both in terms of his senior-year accomplishments as well as his sustained performance while competing for UNLV. In his senior year alone, he competed in nine college events, winning three times and finishing third in three others. In fact, he never finished lower than sixth place in any of the tournaments he played in. Moore also capped his final year with a fifth-place finish at the 2005 NCAA Championship, an event he won in 2004. His 28-round scoring average of 69.29 was tops in the nation and set the UNLV seasonal record. For his college career, he played in 136 rounds and turned in a scoring average of 70.76. He also placed 13th at the 2005 Masters, earning him low amateur honors and a return trip to Augusta in 2006. Moore’s incredible senior season was rewarded with the recognition of winning every major player of the year honor that is given out in collegiate golf - the , the Nicklaus Award and the . Moore became just the second UNLV student-athlete to win his respective sport’s national player of the year award - the first was men’s basketball’s Larry Johnson in 1991. Moore also received national attention when he set a new standard in amateur golf in 2004 by win- ning five major amateur championships, a feat that may never be matched. He captured the U.S. Amateur, the NCAA, the U.S. Amateur Public Links, the Western Amateur and the Sahalee Players Championships to become the first golfer to ever win all five events in the same year. The four-time All-American became just the third UNLV golfer in program history to earn first team honors twice (2004 and 2005). He also captured the Golfstat Cup title in 2004-05, which is awarded annually to the college golfer with the lowest yearly scoring average as was the nation’s top-ranked player for the entire season. His 69.29 was the second lowest seasonal scoring average in NCAA history. Moore was also named the Mountain West Golfer of the Year for the second straight season in 2004- 05 and made the All-MW team for a fourth time. He captured UNLV’s Sportsman of the Year award all four of his years at UNLV. Moore had the opportunity to turn professional after his junior season, but chose to return to school for his senior year. He is currently on the PGA Tour and has recorded five victories: the 2009 , the 2012 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, the 2013 and 2014 CIMB 80 Classics and the 2016 . Moore played in the 2016 for the and he finished like a Rebel by making the clinching putt for the USA. Media Exposure

81 Media Exposure

New York Times USA Today

Jim Nantz, a CBS Sports Broadcaster, with Ryan Moore at the 2005 Hogan Award Dinner.

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