Completed Event: Men's Golf at John A. Burns Intercollegiate on February 12, 2026 , , 13th of 19
M Golf
at John A. Burns Intercollegiate
13th of 19
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: PGA
Mueller qualifies for back-to-back PGA majors
6/7/2022 10:30:00 AM | Men's Golf, Paul Coro
GCU Golf Course GM, volunteer assistant coach plays into U.S. Open field
Jesse Mueller is having one slammin' summer.
Mueller will play in his second consecutive PGA Grand Slam event in a four-week span after following up his PGA Professional Championship victory and PGA Championship appearance by qualifying for next week's U.S. Open.
Mueller, the GCU Golf Course General Manager and men's golf volunteer assistant coach, tied for third place in an 88-player field over Sunday and Monday rounds at The Olympic Club, the same San Francisco golf course where he played his first PGA major in 2012.
At 39 years of age with full-time course management duties and a family, Mueller was facing long odds a decade later to get back to a Grand Slam event but will now be doing it twice in four weeks.
"To win the national club pro and to get into PGA and then qualify for the U.S. Open, which is so difficult, and for it all to happen in a two-month span is pretty ridiculous," said Mueller, who leaves Sunday for the June 16-19 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Mueller and his wife, Jessie, who has joined him as his caddie, started this week's tournament by taking a photo together on the opening tee at The Olympic Club, just as they had 10 years ago in his first Grand Slam appearance there when they had been married for two years.
"There's good mojo when I go there," Mueller said after shooting 6 under par for two rounds.
It showed when he birded the first hole and two of the first four in Sunday's first round to get off to a strong start. With a 2-under first round, Mueller was tied for sixth entering Monday when he birdied the first hole again.
Mueller played a 3-under front nine Monday to move into contention. After a bogey at No. 12, he checked the leaderboard on his phone to decide his next move. He played the narrow, par-4 12th hole aggressively with a driver off the tee and set up a 55-yard pitch that he rolled in for eagle.
"You always visualize the shot and it doesn't always work out the way you want it to, but this one did," said Mueller, who wears GCU gear for his tournaments. "It hit right where I wanted it to, then it bounced up, tricked over the hill and went in. It was pretty cool."
Mueller ran away with his PGA Professional Championship victory by five strokes in April, but this two-round qualifier came down to his final putt on Monday. With three holes remaining, he saw that his tournament score was squarely on the qualifying cut line and knew he was guaranteed a playoff if he parred the final three holes. He did, putting him in a three-way tie for third place above the cut line with two players finishing a stroke behind the trio.
"I've probably played 20 U.S. Open qualifiers and I've probably been to sectionals 10 times," Mueller said. "The last three or four times, I've been in a similar situation where after 27 holes, I was 1 to 4 under. Usually, in these events, 4 to 7 under gets through and I just stalled on the last nine. This was the first time that I had some really good things happen with the eagle and a birdie on that back nine. You put yourself in those situations and never know what can happen."
Mueller made the cut at the 2012 U.S. Open and finished in 51st place among the world's greatest professional golfers. He missed the cut among the world's best again last month at the PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and returned to GCU Golf Course to refine his iron play to back up his strong driving and putting.
"It's convenient because I work there so I can just sneak out and hit balls for 30 minutes," Mueller said of GCU Golf Course. "That really helps me stay close to the game. Even though I'm not putting in six, eight hours of practice any more, I can still get out there and do that as I lead up to these events.
"When I was playing full-time, I wouldn't have played as much. I played so many tournaments that, by the time I got to the end of the year, which was qualifying school for the PGA Tour, I was a little bit burned out. Now, I don't play as much and even though I'm working, I'm not in that daily grind of traveling and playing. I'm more mentally fresh for these events."
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Mueller will play in his second consecutive PGA Grand Slam event in a four-week span after following up his PGA Professional Championship victory and PGA Championship appearance by qualifying for next week's U.S. Open.
Mueller, the GCU Golf Course General Manager and men's golf volunteer assistant coach, tied for third place in an 88-player field over Sunday and Monday rounds at The Olympic Club, the same San Francisco golf course where he played his first PGA major in 2012.At 39 years of age with full-time course management duties and a family, Mueller was facing long odds a decade later to get back to a Grand Slam event but will now be doing it twice in four weeks.
"To win the national club pro and to get into PGA and then qualify for the U.S. Open, which is so difficult, and for it all to happen in a two-month span is pretty ridiculous," said Mueller, who leaves Sunday for the June 16-19 U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Mueller and his wife, Jessie, who has joined him as his caddie, started this week's tournament by taking a photo together on the opening tee at The Olympic Club, just as they had 10 years ago in his first Grand Slam appearance there when they had been married for two years.
"There's good mojo when I go there," Mueller said after shooting 6 under par for two rounds.
It showed when he birded the first hole and two of the first four in Sunday's first round to get off to a strong start. With a 2-under first round, Mueller was tied for sixth entering Monday when he birdied the first hole again.
Mueller played a 3-under front nine Monday to move into contention. After a bogey at No. 12, he checked the leaderboard on his phone to decide his next move. He played the narrow, par-4 12th hole aggressively with a driver off the tee and set up a 55-yard pitch that he rolled in for eagle.
"You always visualize the shot and it doesn't always work out the way you want it to, but this one did," said Mueller, who wears GCU gear for his tournaments. "It hit right where I wanted it to, then it bounced up, tricked over the hill and went in. It was pretty cool."
Mueller ran away with his PGA Professional Championship victory by five strokes in April, but this two-round qualifier came down to his final putt on Monday. With three holes remaining, he saw that his tournament score was squarely on the qualifying cut line and knew he was guaranteed a playoff if he parred the final three holes. He did, putting him in a three-way tie for third place above the cut line with two players finishing a stroke behind the trio.
"I've probably played 20 U.S. Open qualifiers and I've probably been to sectionals 10 times," Mueller said. "The last three or four times, I've been in a similar situation where after 27 holes, I was 1 to 4 under. Usually, in these events, 4 to 7 under gets through and I just stalled on the last nine. This was the first time that I had some really good things happen with the eagle and a birdie on that back nine. You put yourself in those situations and never know what can happen."
Mueller made the cut at the 2012 U.S. Open and finished in 51st place among the world's greatest professional golfers. He missed the cut among the world's best again last month at the PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and returned to GCU Golf Course to refine his iron play to back up his strong driving and putting.
"It's convenient because I work there so I can just sneak out and hit balls for 30 minutes," Mueller said of GCU Golf Course. "That really helps me stay close to the game. Even though I'm not putting in six, eight hours of practice any more, I can still get out there and do that as I lead up to these events.
"When I was playing full-time, I wouldn't have played as much. I played so many tournaments that, by the time I got to the end of the year, which was qualifying school for the PGA Tour, I was a little bit burned out. Now, I don't play as much and even though I'm working, I'm not in that daily grind of traveling and playing. I'm more mentally fresh for these events."
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