April 30, 2004

SUNRIVER, Ore. - UNLV junior golfer Ryan Moore shot a three-under par 69 on Friday to move within two shots of the lead after two round of play at the Mountain West Conference Championship.

Colorado State's Martin Laird still leads the event, but followed his opening-round 64 with a one-over par 73. Laird's five-stroke lead was trimmed to two.

Laird's teammate Nolan Martin carded the day's low score, a five-under par 67, and sits in a tie for second place with Moore and San Diego State's Mark Warman.

Moore's impressive round was not enough to keep him in the hunt for the Hogan Award. Despite being ranked second nationally and earning a spot as a finalist a year ago, Moore was snubbed as a finalist for the award Friday by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

Both BYU and New Mexico shot two-under par as a team, and both teams charged to the top of the leaderboard. The Cougars are two-over par and lead UNM by three strokes. At 10-over par, UNLV trails by only eight strokes, yet sits in fifth place.

The Rebels shot a two-over 290 as a team. Along with Moore's 69 were scores of 72 by Travis Whisman, 73 by Ryan Keeney and a second consecutive 76 from freshman Sam Hunt. Andres Gonzales shot 80 and was discarded from the team score.

Both Moore and the Rebels will look to make a significant climb in the standings during Saturday's final round, which will begin at 9:30 a.m. PDT at the par-72, 7,568-yard Crosswater Course at Sunriver Resort.