NORMAN, Okla. — University of Michigan men’s golfer Kyle Mueller closes his career earning PING All-America second team honors from the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), it was announced Thursday (June 21).
After earning honorable mention honors last year, Mueller becomes the sixth of nine Wolverine All-Americans to earn multiple honors. He is the first U-M golfer since 2011 (Lion Kim), and fifth all-time, to earn a spot on a specifically designated (first, second or third) team. In fact, he is the first second-team selection since 1968.
“I am honored to receive this award from the GCAA,” said Mueller. “There is no way accolades like this happen without my teammates and coaches pushing me to get better each day. There were many goals I wanted to reach this season and while I didn’t reach them all, I am proud of what I accomplished.”
“This is a big honor for Kyle and Michigan,” said U-M head coach Chris Whitten. “He prepared and played the right way with total commitment and high expectations. He spent most of the season ranked in the top 15, sometimes even top six in the country and made a great reputation for himself as a strong player and an even better person. Patrick (Wilkes-Krier) and I could not be more proud of Kyle.”
Leading U-M in 10 of 13 events with 10 sub-par performances in his final season, Mueller won three individual titles helping him tie the U-M record for six in a career. He finished the season with a team-best 70.76 per-round average, setting the Wolverine single-season record for the third straight season.
He earned his fourth All-Big Ten selection with a first team nod helping him become the first Wolverine to receive the conference accolade in four consecutive years. He repeated that feat after he was awarded PING All-Midwest honors for the fourth straight season — the first U-M golfer to do so.
The recipient of the David Toms Overcoming Adversity Award, he added finalist honors for two of college golf’s top awards — the Byron Nelson Award and the Haskins Award for the nation’s top golfer. Mueller added the Big Ten’s Les Bolstad Award for conference lowest scoring average — the first for a U-M golfer.
Mueller did not miss a start in four seasons playing in 50 straight events. He earned 16 top-five finishes and holds U-M’s all-time scoring average at 71.71 per round. He made four straight NCAA postseason appearances, two as a team and two as an individual. He advanced to the NCAA Finals in 2015 and 2018.
2018 Division I PING All-America
First Team
Shintaro Ban, UNLV
Broc Everett, Augusta
Doug Ghim, Texas
Nick Hardy, Illinois
Viktor Hovland, Oklahoma State
Theo Humphrey, Vanderbilt
Collin Morikawa, California
Chandler Phillips, Texas A&M
Justin Suh, Southern California
Norman Xiong, Oregon
Matthew Wolff, Oklahoma State
Second Team
Zach Bauchou, Oklahoma State
George Cunningham, Arizona
Brad Dalke, Oklahoma
Stephen Franken, NC State
Ian Holt, Kent State
Dylan Meyer, Illinois
Kyle Mueller, Michigan
Bryson Nimmer, Clemson
Lorenzo Scalise, Tennessee
Braden Thornberry, Ole Miss
Third Team
Dawson Armstrong, Lipscomb
Hayden Buckley, Missouri
Patrick Fishburn, BYU
Luis Gagne, LSU
Lee Hodges, Alabama
Brandon Mancheno, Auburn
John Pak, Florida State
Davis Riley, Alabama
Scottie Scheffler, Texas
Thomas Walsh, Virginia
All-Time Michigan All-Americans
Bill Newton 1965 (2nd), 1966 (2nd)
John Schroeder 1968 (2nd)
Randy Erskine 1968 (HM), 1970 (3rd)
Tom McParlan 1974 (HM), 1975 (HM)
John Morse 1980 (HM)
Michael Harris 1998 (HM), 2000 (HM)
Alexander Sitompul 2009 (HM)
Lion Kim 2009 (HM), 2011 (3rd)
Kyle Mueller 2017 (HM), 2018 (2nd)
