May 29, 2016
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For the second straight year, University of Michigan men’s golfers Chris O’Neill and Kyle Mueller were selected to the PING Division I All-Midwest Region team following an announcement today (Sunday, May 29) by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). Overall, it is O’Neill’s third honor and Mueller’s second.
With the repeat performance, the Wolverine duos inclusion gives U-M a pair of Wolverines selected for a GCAA all-region team for the third straight season. In addition to O’Neill and Mueller back-to-back selections, O’Neill along with Brett McIntosh were chosen in 2014. A total of 15 Wolverines have received the honor since 2008, and their recognition gives U-M head coach Chris Whitten 10 All-Midwest golfers in as many years with the U-M program.
Together, O’Neill and Mueller guided the Wolverines to their second straight NCAA regional appearance as a team as well as posting the top Big Ten Tournament performance in six years — tying for fourth. U-M closed with five top-5 finishes in its 11 events this season with a pair of runner-up finishes at the Windon Memorial Classic (Sept. 27-28) and Desert Mountain Intercollegiate (March 5-6). With the duos 1-2 finish in the team scoring average, U-M recorded a new program record for team scoring average at 290.21.
Individually, O’Neill, who was a finalist for the Byron Nelson Award, closed the season starting all 11 events, helping him finish his career with a string of 47 consecutive events. In his final season he carried a career-best 72.31 per round average that included 11 sub-par round with a season-best 66 twice — first round of Desert Mountain (March 5-6) and the first round of the MacKenzie (Oct. 12-13). Using one of his 66s, O’Neill set a career-best for a 54-hole tournament posting a 204 (-9) tally at the MacKenzie.
The Glen Allen, Va., native finished his career with 20 top-20 finishes in 47 events, including six among the top-5. He graduated this May with a degree in psychology.
After a stellar freshman campaign, Mueller did not let down in his sophomore campaign. He led the Wolverines in five events and earned All-Big Ten first team and All-Big Ten Tournament honors following his third-place finish at the conference championship with U-M’s 54-hole Big Ten Tournament record of 209 (-7).
With his 71.72 per-round average, Mueller became the first Wolverine in history to finish a season with an average below 72. He led U-M with 13 sub-par rounds, including a U-M record-tying 64 (-7) in the second round of the MacKenzie (Oct. 12-13).
The Athens, Georgia, native has posted four of his 10 stroke play events under par. He smashed the U-M 54-hole record by four strokes, becoming the first Wolverine to break the 200-barrier, with a 198 (-15) tally at the MacKenzie.
A total of 156 players were honored across six regions: Northeast, East, Southeast, Midwest, Central and West.
2016 PING All-Midwest Region Team
Fernando Barco, Purdue
Otto Black, Toledo
Brian Carlson, Purdue
Charlie Danielson, Illinois
Keegan de Lange, Louisville
Thomas Detry, Illinois
Austin Eoff, Purdue
Patrick Flavin, Miami (OH)
Will Grimmer, Ohio State
Nick Hardy, Illinois
Josh Heinze, Michigan State
Ian Holt, Kent State
Chase Johnson, Kent State
Tee-k Kelly, Ohio State
Raymond Knoll, Iowa
Joo-Young Lee, Northern Illinois
Dylan Meyer, Illinois
Jose Montano, Xavier
Kyle Mueller, Michigan
Chris O’Neill, Michigan
Mitch Rutledge, Michigan State
Carson Schaake, Iowa
Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Louisville
Dylan Wu, Northwestern
Nate Yankovich, Iowa
U-M’s PING All-Midwest Region Selections (since 2008)
Joey Garber (2011)
Lion Kim (2009, ’10, ’11)
Brett McIntosh (2014)
Kyle Mueller (2015, ’16)
Chris O’Neill (2014, ’15, ’16)
Tim Schaetzel (2008)
Jack Schultz (2010)
Matt Thompson (2010, ’11, ’12)
