May 30, 1998 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - It was a lucky seventh for the UNLV golf team.
The top-ranked UNLV Rebels, under head coach Dwaine Knight, withstood a final-round rally from Clemson and won their first-ever NCAA men's golf title by three shots at the University of New Mexico's Championship Golf Course (par 72, 2,748 yards) Saturday.
It marks only the second team national championship for UNLV in any sport as the men's basketball team won in 1990.
The Rebels, who won their record-breaking seventh tournament of the season, shot a final-round one-over-par 289 and finished the tournament at 34-under-par 1,118, setting the record for the lowest total in NCAA Championships history. The old mark was 23-under par, which was set by Arizona in 1992 and repeated by Stanford in 1994.
UNLV also broke the NCAA Championships record for lowest score after the second-round. The Rebels were at 23-under par after the 36-hole cut, eclipsing the old mark set by Stanford in 1994 at 11-under.
Knight, who's best finish before this year at the NCAA Championships was second in 1996, then failed to make the cut in 1997, led his team to the title in only his 10th try with the Rebels.
"This year we have won when we were ahead going into the final round, when we were coming from behind and when we were even," Knight said. "The experience that we gained during the year really helped today. When you win a lot, you get comfortable with the fact that it will always come down to the final holes. It did today and we were ready."
Knight was also impressed with the way his team battled from the very beginning of the season and persevered . "After not making the cut last year and losing the players we did, for this team to gain the No. 1 spot again, coming in expected to win, and with the pressure, holding on for the victory makes me very proud."
Clemson finished 31-under par in second place, while Georgia Tech was second at 30-under, Oklahoma State was fourth at 25-under and Arizona State rounds out the top five, finishing 22-under par.
Freshman James McLean of Minnesota shot a final-round 69 and hung on for the individual championship at 17-under-par 271.
"It's a big thrill coming over from Australia and win it," McLean said "I was only a top-five or ten player there and to win it here (in the United States) means a lot. All of the best players are over here and I came here to play with the best."
With his 17-under, McLean tied the NCAA record held by John Inman (North Carolina, 1984), Phil Mickelson (Arizona State, 1992) and Justin Leonard (Texas, 1994) for lowest tournament total.
UNLV junior Chris Berry, who had a nightmare of a tournament in 1996, as he finished dead last, led the Rebels and finished in a tie for second place one shot back at 16-under.
"I am so proud of Chris," Knight said. "For him to comeback and lead us to victory after his previous NCAA performance is just so special."
"One of the things that made me play so well was looking at the scoreboards," Berry said. "When the team went low in the second round I kept looking at the updates on the board and we kept getting lower and lower. It really fired me up and I just wanted to help the team."
Also tying for second was Stanford's Joel Kribel, TCU's J.J. Henry and Clemson's Charles Warren.
NCAA Division I Men's Golf ChampionshipsUniversity of New Mexico Championship Golf CourseAlbuquerque, N.M.Par 72, 7,248 yards
Team Results After Saturday's Final Round1 UNLV 284 269 276 289 1118 -34 2 Clemson University 283 278 278 282 1121 -31 3 Georgia Tech 281 277 286 278 1122 -30 4 Oklahoma State U. 278 286 278 285 1127 -25 5 Arizona State U. 289 282 283 276 1130 -22 6 Ohio State Univ. 284 286 280 285 1135 -17 7 Minnesota, Univ. of 296 275 283 283 1137 -15 T 8 UCLA 289 275 284 294 1142 -10 T 8 Houston, Univ. of 294 276 287 285 1142 -10 10 Auburn University 290 283 285 287 1145 -7 11 South Carolina 285 281 284 296 1146 -6 12 TCU 290 282 290 286 1148 -4 13 Miami of Ohio 286 283 290 292 1151 -1 14 Florida, U. of 282 288 287 297 1154 +2 15 California, U. of 290 277 290 298 1155 +3 ---------------- 36 HOLE CUT ------------------16 New Mexico 289 285 574 -217 Georgia 279 296 575 -118 North Carolina State 288 288 576 E19 Northwestern 287 290 577 +120 Nebraska 286 292 578 +221 East Tennessee State 286 293 579 +322 Fresno State 285 295 580 +423 Southeastern La. 289 293 582 +624 Kent 289 294 583 +725 North Carolina 294 291 585 +926 UC Santa Barbara 294 295 589 +13T 27 Oregon 303 287 590 +14T 27 Augusta State 294 296 590 +1429 Oklahoma 295 297 592 +1630 Arizona 293 300 593 +17
Individual Results After Saturday's Final Round1 James McLean Minn. 71 66 65 69 271 -17 T 2 Chris Berry UNLV 70 68 67 67 272 -16 T 2 *Joel Kribel Stanford 69 67 68 68 272 -16 T 2 J.J. Henry TCU 67 67 70 68 272 -16 T 2 Charles Warren Clemson 69 66 67 70 272 -16 6 Bryce Molder GA Tech 68 68 68 69 273 -15 T 7 Darren Angel ASU 73 67 71 65 276 -12 T 7 Tim Clark NC State 68 72 69 67 276 -12 T 7 Matt Kuchar GA Tech 69 67 70 70 276 -12 10 Joey Maxon Clemson 69 71 70 68 278 -10 T 11 Victor Schwamkrug Houston 74 70 69 66 279 -9 T 11 Jeff Quinney ASU 69 71 71 68 279 -9 T 11 Jeremy Parrott Georgia 69 71 69 70 279 -9 T 11 Kyle Voska Miami (OH) 67 68 71 73 279 -9 T 15 Craig Matthew Ohio State 73 69 69 70 281 -7 T 15 Ryan Armour Ohio State 67 75 67 72 281 -7 T 15 Edward Loar OK State 68 72 66 75 281 -7 T 15 Bill Lunde UNLV 73 65 67 76 281 -7 19 Bo Van Pelt OK State 70 67 74 71 282 -6 T 20 Martin LeMesurier Minn. 71 72 72 68 283 -5 T 20 Charles Howell OK State 70 74 70 69 283 -5 T 20 *Harry Singh UTA 68 72 72 71 283 -5 T 20 Brandon DiTullio UCLA 72 68 71 72 283 -5 T 20 Andy Sanders Houston 71 69 71 72 283 -5 T 20 Charley Hoffman UNLV 71 67 71 74 283 -5 T 26 Reid Edstrom Auburn 75 68 71 70 284 -4 T 26 Scott Weatherly Auburn 70 72 71 71 284 -4 T 26 Jeff McGraw UCLA 71 70 70 73 284 -4 T 29 Dan Coyle California 75 70 71 69 285 -3 T 29 Jake Kransteuber S Carolina 68 74 71 72 285 -3 T 29 *Michael Connell Miss. St. 72 69 72 72 285 -3 T 29 Bryant MacKellar Auburn 71 71 70 73 285 -3 T 29 Jeremy Anderson UNLV 70 69 72 74 285 -3 T 34 John Engler Clemson 71 72 71 72 286 -2 T 34 Kevin Mihailoff Florida 70 72 71 73 286 -2 36 Simon Lacey Florida 70 75 67 75 287 -1 T 37 Jin Park ASU 75 73 68 72 288 E T 37 Steve Friesen Nebraska 69 72 74 73 288 E T 37 Mark Catalano S Carolina 72 68 75 73 288 E T 37 Scott Lander UNLV 73 70 71 74 288 E T 37 D.J. Brigman UNM 69 71 69 79 288 E T 42 Lucas Glover Clemson 76 70 71 72 289 +1 T 42 Jonathan Byrd Clemson 74 71 70 74 289 +1 T 42 Jeff Burns Houston 75 67 73 74 289 +1 T 42 Jeff Brown Ohio State 74 69 71 75 289 +1 T 42 Max Harris N Carolina 74 68 72 75 289 +1 T 42 Dan Arroyo California 70 69 72 78 289 +1 T 48 Landry Mahan OK State 77 73 70 70 290 +2 T 48 Greg Padilla ASU 75 71 73 71 290 +2 T 48 Adam Speirs Miami (OH) 76 70 71 73 290 +2 T 48 Byron Schlagenhauf UCLA 75 69 72 74 290 +2 T 48 Eric Ecker S Carolina 74 69 72 75 290 +2 T 48 Josh Watney Fresno St. 69 71 74 76 290 +2 T 48 Adam Ainbinder California 76 66 71 77 290 +2 T 55 Chris Morris Houston 74 70 74 73 291 +3 T 55 Alberto Ochoa TCU 73 70 75 73 291 +3 T 55 Han Lee California 69 72 76 74 291 +3 T 55 Steve Bradley Florida 69 68 79 75 291 +3 T 55 Ross Fulgentis UCLA 76 74 75 67 292 +4 T 60 Adam Dooley Minn. 79 69 73 71 292 +4 T 60 Mike Austin Ohio State 72 74 73 73 292 +4 T 60 Brent Roof S Carolina 75 75 66 76 292 +4 T 60 Mike Pearson GA Tech 73 70 73 76 292 +4 T 65 Albert Hromulak Ohio State 72 74 77 70 293 +5 T 65 Scott Volpitto TCU 75 74 72 72 293 +5 T 65 Carlton Forrester GA Tech 71 72 78 72 293 +5 T 65 Jason Dufner Auburn 74 72 73 74 293 +5 T 65 Bill Thompson Minn. 75 68 75 75 293 +5 T 70 Sal Spallone TCU 75 71 75 73 294 +6 T 70 Kyle Thompson S Carolina 71 70 76 77 294 +6 T 72 Josh McCumber Florida 73 75 73 74 295 +7 T 72 John Bishop Miami (OH) 73 72 75 75 295 +7 T 74 Grady Girard TCU 75 74 73 74 296 +8 T 74 Jason Semelsberger UCLA 72 73 76 75 296 +8 T 74 Boyd Summerhays OK State 70 77 72 77 296 +8 T 77 Tee McCabe Miami (OH) 70 80 75 72 297 +9 T 77 Roland Thatcher Auburn 76 75 73 73 297 +9 T 77 Paul Casey ASU 72 74 73 78 297 +9 80 Ryan Lagergren Miami (OH) 78 73 73 74 298 +10 81 Steve Scott Florida 74 73 76 77 300 +12 82 Rob Kerr Minn. 80 75 73 75 303 +15 83 B.J. Staten Houston 80 73 79 74 306 +18 84 Jay Berkowitz California 76 77 76 78 307 +19
* INDIVIDUAL
