May 2, 2017
ROSEMONT, Ill. — University of Michigan junior men’s golfer Kyle Mueller was honored today (Tuesday, May 2) by the Big Ten Conference with his third straight All-Big Ten selection and second straight first-team accolade.
Mueller becomes just the second Wolverine in program history to earn three All-Big Ten honors, joining Michael Harris, who was a three-time first teamer (1998-2000). Mueller earned second team honors as a freshman (2015) and now has back-to-back years of first team selections (2016 & 2017).
“It’s an honor to win this award two years in a row especially considering the level of play in the Big Ten,” said Mueller. “The other players that received this award are all great players. It makes it that much more special being recognized alongside them. I am looking forward to regionals and seeing what this team can accomplish this year as the season comes to a close.”
After record-setting campaigns his first two seasons, Mueller has not let down this season, leading the Wolverines in six of the 12 events. With his current school-record pace 71.43 per-round average, Mueller is on pace to break his own program record set last season at 71.72. He leads U-M with 16 sub-par rounds this season, 10 of which are sub-70, including a U-M season-best 66 (-6) shot in the first round of Linger Longer Invitational (March 19-21).
He has helped U-M win team titles at the Dayton Flyer Invitational (Oct. 17-18) and Desert Mountain Intercollegiate (March 4-5) as well as set the program’s single-round team record with a 270 (-14) in final round at Inverness Intercollegiate, breaking the U-M mark by two shots and tournament’s single-round record by seven.
The Athens, Georgia, native has two tournaments victories this season. First, he used a 209 (-7) to win the Windon Memorial Classic (Sept. 25-26) before tying U-M’s 36-hole tournament record with a 138 (-6) at the weather-shortened Aggie Invitational (Sept. 25-26). Mueller’s perfect 3-0 mark at the Big Ten Match Play Championship (Feb. 10-11) improved his career mark to 9-1.
“Kyle had a great year and continues to improve,” said U-M head coach Chris Whitten. “He leads our team in every way, and I’m really proud of him for earning All-Big Ten yet again. Heading into the postseason, I know Kyle has high expectations, and we hope to end the season with his best golf so far.”
For his career, Mueller has started 36 straight events, producing 15 top-10 individual finishes with nine among the top five. He is on a school-record pace with his 72.07 per-round average and has 40 sub-par tallies in 96 career rounds.
Mueller and the rest of the Wolverines will now tune into the Golf Channel on Thursday (May 4) to learn their NCAA regional fate with a live selection show at noon. There are six NCAA regional sites — LSU, Middle Tennessee State, Purdue, Stanford, Texas and Washington — being played Monday through Wednesday (May 15-17).
2017 Big Ten Conference Men’s Golf Honors
All-Big Ten, First Team
Michael Feagles, Illinois
NICK HARDY, Illinois
Edoardo Lipparelli, Illinois
DYLAN MEYER, Illinois
Kyle Mueller, Michigan
Ryan Lumsden, Northwestern
DYLAN WU, Northwestern
CHARLES HUNTZINGER, Penn State
All-Big Ten, Second Team
Raymond Knoll, Iowa
Matthew Walker, Iowa
Charlie Netzel, Michigan State
Sam Weatherhead, Michigan State
Will Grimmer, Ohio State
Cole Miller, Penn State
Austin Eoff, Purdue
Fernando Barco, Purdue
Big Ten Player of the Year: Dylan Meyer, Illinois
Big Ten Freshman of the Year: Michael Feagles, Illinois
Big Ten Coach of the Year: Mike Small, Illinois
Sportsmanship Award Honorees
Bryan Baumgarten, Illinois
Jack Sparrow, Indiana
Carson Schaake, Iowa
Tim Colanta, Maryland
Reed Hrynewich, Michigan
Michael Sharp, Michigan State
Riley Johnson, Minnesota
Cameron Jones, Nebraska
Sam Triplett, Northwestern
Daniel Wetterich, Ohio State
Cole Miller, Penn State
Fernando Barco, Purdue
Jack Pangos, Rutgers
Pete Kuhl, Wisconsin
Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS
