Columnist Adam Candee: Time for Rebels to prove they’ve got more than just Moore

Adam Candee

Wednesday, April 27, 2005 | 9:22 a.m.

Adam Candee covers golf for the Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at candee@lasvegassun.com.

He could shoot a left-handed, one-legged, blindfolded 59 every round from here to June - and we'd love to see it - but Ryan Moore still wouldn't win the one he wants so much.

For UNLV's senior star to reach his final goal as a Rebel, it'll have to be Moore Plus Four, starting Thursday at the Crosswater Course in Sunriver, Ore. That's where the Rebels begin the Mountain West Conference tournament, as they begin a month-long sprint toward the NCAA team championship that Moore craves to put the cherry atop his amateur career.

It stung UNLV coach Dwaine Knight and his guys that they fell flat at regionals last year and failed to even get a shot at the team title. This program lives at a lofty level where that is neither expected nor acceptable.

"We had an excellent leader," Knight said. "But we were inconsistent two through five."

It hurt even more when Moore qualified as an individual and won the individual championship in Hot Springs, Va., to start his summer of amateur love. With a performance like Moore's fronting the effort, only a couple of more strong efforts might have won a team crown as well. Those what-ifs are nasty little mental mosquitoes.

Surely, if they'd played at all like they have throughout the 2004-05 season, the Rebels would have not only made nationals, but competed to win. And looking at the way they are playing heading into the conference tournament, predicting the Rebels' second-ever team national title isn't a far-fetched step.

Not that that's happening here. Not yet. You know Moore's game will be there. Now the task falls to Travis Whisman, Andres Gonzales, Ryan Keeney and Jarred Texter to not only support it, but to win one for their own mantels.

It's so easy to think of UNLV golf as a one-man show because Moore is so dominant. What makes the college game unique in golf, though, is the team setup. The four guys out there not named Moore, the ones who don't have agents and club reps holding constant vigil outside their doors, must shine. This year, they can.

Since a disappointing ninth-place showing to open the year on the national championship course at the Preview outside Baltimore - see, we have a caveat here - the Rebels won two tournaments and did not place lower than third in any of their eight events. They even went to Phoenix while Moore tore up Augusta National and won a tournament without him.

"A big part of that was wanting to show (Moore), hey, we can back you up," Knight said.

Whisman emerged as the clear No. 2 player that everyone in the program knew he could be, posting five top-10 finishes and a 71.5 stroke average. Gonzales and Keeney both have four top-20 efforts. The wild card is Texter, the super-talented freshman who went through a midseason slump as he made a major change in his grip. Knight said Texter is ready to go now, especially on a Crosswater Course where he finished second in a prestigious junior tournament last year.

As always, Knight's buzzword is depth and the Rebels appear to have it. Even Texter, clearly one of the five most talented players on the squad, had to win a four-man qualifying playoff at home just to make the trip to Oregon.

"We've been able to change lots of parts and not lose that competitiveness," Knight said.

Knight expected this year's breakthrough to come last year, but no matter. It's here now and this year is UNLV's best chance to win since the first title year in 1998. Moore and Whisman are both seniors, so this is likely UNLV's best shot for a few years to come as well.

The Rebels sit atop Golfstat's national rankings. They are fourth in the national golf coaches' poll. This isn't blind belief among the UNLV set. This is proven ability, as opposed to last season's unrealized potential.

Last year, the Rebels played as though they expected Moore to simply take them all the way, and he certainly tried. But it just doesn't happen that way and they know that now.

Luckily for them, Moore is still here, still playing professional golf among the pub crawl crowd for another month. The time is here for the Rebels not only to reward Moore for coming back for his senior year, but to prove that UNLV golf goes beyond him.