It was heady stuff in 2004 when two UNLV graduates, teammates and All-Americans, Chris Riley and Chad Campbell, made the same American Ryder Cup team. Campbell had done it with solid play throughout the previous two years, and Riley nabbed one of the final spots with a fourth-place finish in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, where he missed the playoff by one stroke.
By Jack Sheehan, GLV Now contributor
But since then, their careers have gone in opposite directions.
In the last two years, Campbell, 32, has won $5.2 million in official earnings, had a victory at the Bob Hope and fashioned ten top 10s. Riley, 33, has fallen off the radar, with just one top 10, and just over $700,000 in earnings for the two years.
Chris now has only a conditional exemption for the 2007 season, the result of finishing at one-hundred and fifty (the last conditional spot) on the 2006 list.
Riley cites the arrival of children and a general ennui about spending so much time away from home as the reason for his lackluster play. But with his communication and people skills, he doesnt seem the least bit worried about his future. And neither are we.
When with the Rebels, Riley and Campbell practiced at many of Las Vegas's best courses including Shadow Creek, TPC Summerlin, Rio Secco and TPC Canyons among others.