Oct. 10, 2000

Dallas, Tex. - USC freshman golfer Hunter Mahan shot 65 and 67 in rounds two and three, respectively, to win his second straight individual championship and lead the No. 16 USC men's golf team to the team title at the Taylor Made Red River Classic held at the Dallas Athletic Club in Dallas, Tex., on Monday-Tuesday (October 9-10).

Mahan, who is the first Trojan to win back-to-back individual tournament titles since Chad Wright did so in 1997, shot 204 (-12) for USC--the lowest 54-hole score by a Trojan since Haskins Award winner Sam Randolph shot 200 to win the Fresno State Pepsi Classic in 1985. Out of 54 holes, Mahan totaled 17 birdies, 32 pars and only five bogies to finish one stroke ahead of Arkansas' Craig Lile.

As a team, USC shot 848 to finish 16 under par--three strokes ahead of Texas Christian. The Trojans fired a blistering 271 in the second round--the lowest team round of head coach Kurt Schuette's tenure at USC. Overall, it's the eighth USC team championship for Schuette.

The Trojans got big-time contributions from their entire squad. Junior Kevin Stadler shot 210 (-6) to finish tied for seventh, sophomore David Oh shot 218 (+2) to finish tied for 29th, senior Nick Jones shot 221 (+5) to finish tied for 49th and walk-on sophomore Chris Botsford shot 225 (+9) to finish tied for 64th.

Mahan, who hails from McKinney, Tex., came to USC as the nation's top-ranked junior amateur and the 2000 American Junior Golf Association's Player of the Year.

The Trojans next play at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on October 16-17.