Completed Event: Men's Golf at William H. Tucker Invitational on September 19, 2025 , , 7th of 18
M Golf
at William H. Tucker Invitational
7th of 18
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Mike Schoaf/Southwest PGA
Mueller makes Phoenix Open cut
2/12/2024 7:00:00 AM | Men's Golf, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
GCU Golf Course GM shot 1 under, including tournament's best 16th-hole tee shot
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Like the dozens of world-class golfers who were his competition, Jesse Mueller spent the past few days trying to aptly navigate the challenges of TPC Scottsdale and the pressures of a national television broadcast and a hometown crowd exceeding 200,000 people on Saturday.
Unlike the other pros, Mueller also was planning a 7 a.m. office arrival time on Monday to catch up on his full-time Grand Canyon job's busiest time as GCU Golf Course general manager.
"How was your weekend?" hits Mueller a little different at the clubhouse water cooler after one of the greatest golf weekends of his life. Mueller made the WM Phoenix Open cut, his first one on the PGA Tour since 2017, despite having to play 31 holes Friday.
Mueller made history as the first Southwest PGA golf professional to make the cut in Phoenix since 2005, and he made memories Saturday on the loudest hole in pro golf – the par-3 No. 16 with more than 20,000 fans watching.
As Golf Channel announcers called him "the pride of Grand Canyon," Mueller took to the tee in a GCU pullover and visor after his playing partners each had been booed when their tee shots missed the 16th green. He adjusted his club choice after seeing the previous shots' backspins and put a gap wedge shot within a foot of the cup, as close as the rowdy crowd saw all tournament.
Normally steady and stoic, Mueller gave the roaring fans what they wanted with a fist pump to the sky before raising his arms in celebration and then waving them for more noise, as he did again when he tapped in for birdie.
"It came out," Mueller said. "You feed off it. That's what they like. It's fun just to be able to hit that shot in that kind of circumstance was awesome."
Mueller finished the tournament at 1 under par to tie for 66th place, using a 2-under "back nine" when he finished his final round on the Stadium Course's front nine.
It was Mueller's third Phoenix Open experience but the most surreal for the Mesa native who played in the tournament's youth program when he was 10 years old. He had made PGA cuts in 2012 at the U.S. Open and in 2017 in Las Vegas, but Mueller did it this weekend while hearing "Lopes up" at nearly each of his 72 holes played.
"It's just so satisfying to make a cut on tour," Mueller said. "The fields are just so strong. To get in the top 65, I've been so close so many times. Especially here, I missed last time by one stroke. Just to get a weekend was awesome."
The rain and frost delays pushed his play to Saturday regardless, especially after the conditions delayed his Thursday first tee by four hours and limited him to two holes before darkness called play. That set up a 31-hole day for Mueller on Friday, when he made six birdies on a 15-hole stretch to climb into the tournament's top 25 in the middle of his third round.
"I really got into a groove there for like two hours," Mueller said. "I played 3 or 4 under par, and I could've been better. I really felt solid with my ball striking. To put it together that round when I needed it to get to the cut was really nice."
Mueller used the tournament's eighth-best putting in the second round to make the cut. He had to return Saturday morning to finish the second round with three pars.
"The fact that he's still playing at this level is an amazing thing for us, but it's also an amazing thing for the university," said GCU President Brian Mueller, who raised Jesse and his three brothers in golf with his wife, Paula. "I just walked around this course for four days and it was 'Go Lopes' and 'Lopes up' on almost every hole. I ran into alumni, current students and staff members. There's such a pride in Grand Canyon University. It's overwhelming to be out there and know this has all happened in 14 years. It was an amazing week for our family and the university."
While the likes of top-tier golfers Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Luke Donald and Akshay Bhatia missed the cut, Mueller advanced on the strength of a 3-under second round. He shot 2 over in the third round and closed with an even-oar 71 to match his opening-round score.
Mueller earned $18,392 for his finish, but the real payoff was in the joy he felt after being riddled with nerves in his 2020 Phoenix Open debut and thinking he made the cut in his 2021 appearance, only to watch the cut line move to push him out after his second round.
"I know that I can play out here," said Mueller, who won the PGA Professional Championship in 2022 to play five PGA events last year. "I'm not trying to do it full-time any more, but if I get the opportunity, this will give me a little more confidence that I am able to do it. If I do get it going, like when I was top 25 for a moment, I know that I can do it."
After finishing the tournament under par because of a 14-foot birdie on his fourth-to-last hole, it was a lot easier for Mueller to recount being booed five times at the 16th hole in his first round. The merciless crowd booed for his tee shot, chip, each of his putts and his hole exit.
The remaining holes on the course were filled with Lopes love each day, and his local following extends hrough his years on Red Mountain High School state championship teams and his Arizona State collegiate playing career.
He is also well known for running the GCU Golf Course operation and volunteering to help his brother, Mark, coach the Lopes' defending WAC champion men's golf team. A boy followed his Phoenix Open play each day with his grandfather because he has taken years of lessons from Mueller, a PGA teaching pro.
"He
works really hard at the course," said President Mueller, who caught his toddler son's pitch shots with a baseball glove. "The golf operation is going fantastic – 55,000-plus rounds a year in west Phoenix. It's one of the nicest public courses we've got in Arizona. And a lot of that is due to Jesse. He's doing a great job of running the course. For him to be playing this well and still working a full-time job running the golf operation was amazing."
Mueller's wife, Jessie, has caddied for some of his tournaments but was handling a stroller instead of his GCU golf bag this time. She watched his dream week unfold with their children, 10-year-old Logan and 5-year-old Sienna.
"It would probably have been easier to be inside the ropes trying to navigate everything," Jessie joked.
"This was amazing. It's been a goal of his to make the cut at Waste Management since I've known him. It's been a lot, trying to balance it all. It's very demanding. He wears a lot of hats."
This weekend, the hats were all GCU visors at the PGA Tour's most-attended event.
Unlike the other pros, Mueller also was planning a 7 a.m. office arrival time on Monday to catch up on his full-time Grand Canyon job's busiest time as GCU Golf Course general manager."How was your weekend?" hits Mueller a little different at the clubhouse water cooler after one of the greatest golf weekends of his life. Mueller made the WM Phoenix Open cut, his first one on the PGA Tour since 2017, despite having to play 31 holes Friday.
Mueller made history as the first Southwest PGA golf professional to make the cut in Phoenix since 2005, and he made memories Saturday on the loudest hole in pro golf – the par-3 No. 16 with more than 20,000 fans watching.
As Golf Channel announcers called him "the pride of Grand Canyon," Mueller took to the tee in a GCU pullover and visor after his playing partners each had been booed when their tee shots missed the 16th green. He adjusted his club choice after seeing the previous shots' backspins and put a gap wedge shot within a foot of the cup, as close as the rowdy crowd saw all tournament.
Normally steady and stoic, Mueller gave the roaring fans what they wanted with a fist pump to the sky before raising his arms in celebration and then waving them for more noise, as he did again when he tapped in for birdie."It came out," Mueller said. "You feed off it. That's what they like. It's fun just to be able to hit that shot in that kind of circumstance was awesome."
Mueller finished the tournament at 1 under par to tie for 66th place, using a 2-under "back nine" when he finished his final round on the Stadium Course's front nine.
It was Mueller's third Phoenix Open experience but the most surreal for the Mesa native who played in the tournament's youth program when he was 10 years old. He had made PGA cuts in 2012 at the U.S. Open and in 2017 in Las Vegas, but Mueller did it this weekend while hearing "Lopes up" at nearly each of his 72 holes played.
"It's just so satisfying to make a cut on tour," Mueller said. "The fields are just so strong. To get in the top 65, I've been so close so many times. Especially here, I missed last time by one stroke. Just to get a weekend was awesome."
The rain and frost delays pushed his play to Saturday regardless, especially after the conditions delayed his Thursday first tee by four hours and limited him to two holes before darkness called play. That set up a 31-hole day for Mueller on Friday, when he made six birdies on a 15-hole stretch to climb into the tournament's top 25 in the middle of his third round.
"I really got into a groove there for like two hours," Mueller said. "I played 3 or 4 under par, and I could've been better. I really felt solid with my ball striking. To put it together that round when I needed it to get to the cut was really nice."
Mueller used the tournament's eighth-best putting in the second round to make the cut. He had to return Saturday morning to finish the second round with three pars.
"The fact that he's still playing at this level is an amazing thing for us, but it's also an amazing thing for the university," said GCU President Brian Mueller, who raised Jesse and his three brothers in golf with his wife, Paula. "I just walked around this course for four days and it was 'Go Lopes' and 'Lopes up' on almost every hole. I ran into alumni, current students and staff members. There's such a pride in Grand Canyon University. It's overwhelming to be out there and know this has all happened in 14 years. It was an amazing week for our family and the university."
While the likes of top-tier golfers Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Luke Donald and Akshay Bhatia missed the cut, Mueller advanced on the strength of a 3-under second round. He shot 2 over in the third round and closed with an even-oar 71 to match his opening-round score.Mueller earned $18,392 for his finish, but the real payoff was in the joy he felt after being riddled with nerves in his 2020 Phoenix Open debut and thinking he made the cut in his 2021 appearance, only to watch the cut line move to push him out after his second round.
"I know that I can play out here," said Mueller, who won the PGA Professional Championship in 2022 to play five PGA events last year. "I'm not trying to do it full-time any more, but if I get the opportunity, this will give me a little more confidence that I am able to do it. If I do get it going, like when I was top 25 for a moment, I know that I can do it."
After finishing the tournament under par because of a 14-foot birdie on his fourth-to-last hole, it was a lot easier for Mueller to recount being booed five times at the 16th hole in his first round. The merciless crowd booed for his tee shot, chip, each of his putts and his hole exit.
The remaining holes on the course were filled with Lopes love each day, and his local following extends hrough his years on Red Mountain High School state championship teams and his Arizona State collegiate playing career.
He is also well known for running the GCU Golf Course operation and volunteering to help his brother, Mark, coach the Lopes' defending WAC champion men's golf team. A boy followed his Phoenix Open play each day with his grandfather because he has taken years of lessons from Mueller, a PGA teaching pro.
"He
works really hard at the course," said President Mueller, who caught his toddler son's pitch shots with a baseball glove. "The golf operation is going fantastic – 55,000-plus rounds a year in west Phoenix. It's one of the nicest public courses we've got in Arizona. And a lot of that is due to Jesse. He's doing a great job of running the course. For him to be playing this well and still working a full-time job running the golf operation was amazing."Mueller's wife, Jessie, has caddied for some of his tournaments but was handling a stroller instead of his GCU golf bag this time. She watched his dream week unfold with their children, 10-year-old Logan and 5-year-old Sienna.
"It would probably have been easier to be inside the ropes trying to navigate everything," Jessie joked.
"This was amazing. It's been a goal of his to make the cut at Waste Management since I've known him. It's been a lot, trying to balance it all. It's very demanding. He wears a lot of hats."
This weekend, the hats were all GCU visors at the PGA Tour's most-attended event.
Jesse Mueller, PGA General Manager at Grand Canyon University GC, gets the 16th loud with an outstanding tee shot. 👏
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) February 10, 2024
📺: Golf Channel & @peacock | @WMPhoenixOpen pic.twitter.com/LSl3dYIlJX
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Coastal Carolina - Postgame Radio with Bryce Drew
Sunday, December 14
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Coastal Carolina - Highlights
Sunday, December 14
Celly in the hallway! Lopes win!
Sunday, December 14
GCU Men's Basketball vs. Coastal Carolina - Postgame with Bryce Drew
Sunday, December 14