Freshman Kyle Mueller has been the Michigan men’s golf team’s most consistent player all season. He found a way to finish sixth individually, shooting an even-par 273 for the Wolverines at the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate in Columbus.
“He had a nice finish,” said Michigan coach Chris Whitten. “The thing I liked most about him was that he wasn’t really hitting the ball exactly the way he wanted to, but he took what he was able to do and just made it work for this week. He played smart and managed the course really well.”
After shooting one-over 72 in the first two rounds, Mueller shot a two-under 69 in the final round to lead the Wolverines to an overall fourth place finish, ahead of the likes of No. 29 UNLV and No. 31 Houston. Still in his first year at Michigan, Mueller’s consistency and poise has caught the eyes of other coaches around the country as well.
“He’s just been so solid all year,” Whitten said. “He’s been in the top 25 regularly, and when you watch him play, it makes sense. He gets a lot of compliments from other teams’ coaches about how consistent he is and how good his good shots are.”
But what really allowed Mueller to take advantage of the Scarlet Course — a challenging course designed by Jack Nicklaus — was its length.
“He does hit (the ball) pretty far,” Whitten said. “This was a long course and the ground was really, really wet, so the ball wasn’t rolling anywhere. He just hits it consistently. His bad shots are still playable, and his short game is good enough to go make up for it when he gets a little bit out of position.”
While Mueller’s contributions led the team, he was not alone in carrying the Wolverines to their fourth-place finish. Not one Michigan golfer shot higher than a three-over 74 in the final round of play. Those individual performances allowed the Wolverines to recover from their first- and second-round scores of 293 and 292, respectively, and finish with the best score of the final round with an even-par 284.
“That was a big deal for us to shoot the low round of the day today,” Whitten said. “We try to win each round if we can. It’s really good to have some depth in our lineup where we have multiple guys capable of shooting under par on hard golf courses. The fact that we’ve got the firepower capable of doing that is a great sign.”
A tune-up for the Big Ten Tournament, Whitten was pleased with Michigan’s resiliency in Columbus. His expectations remain the same heading into the final weeks of the season, but final exams have him more concerned with Wolverines’ mindset.
“We’re there to put ourselves in a position to win, and the guys are capable of it,” Whitten said. “We need to chill with final exams, first of all, and make sure everyone is managing their schedule really well and kind of work on our time management to make sure that we’re doing the right types of practice and getting the right amount and also to manage school for the next two weeks.”