By Jon Levy - Staff Writer

February 5, 2010
Anthem (Ariz.)


To call a spade a spade: Jesse Mueller knows a thing or two about winning. He has, in fact -- with rounds of 70/70/65-205 (11-under par) this week at Anthem - Ironwood to take a one-stroke victory over Josh Persons (66/74/66-206) and Eric Meierdeirks (66/68/72-206), worth $16,000 -- won ten times on The Gateway Tour, including multiple other close calls when he’s finished just slightly off of the top mark.

So, was it a real surprise for the Mesa, Ariz. native to post a 7-under 65 in the final round this week to surpass 36-hole co-leader, Meierdierks, and hold off a charging Persons to forcefully notch another win on his belt?

Probably not.

What is surprising, though, is that while Mueller was right in the thick of things, with just three holes remaining to end his week, he pulled out a “soft” 8 iron from his bag on the 475-yard, par-4 16th and subsequently knocked it in for eagle and a two-stroke lead with two to play.

Now, there’s a way to get the job done.

“I had both the eight (iron) and nine (iron) in my hands and wasn’t quite sure which one to go with,” explained Mueller, who parred the final two holes after the deuce. “So I hit a soft eight, which was probably my best shot of the week, and it was lucky enough to go in.”

The experienced veteran then played his closing holes, including the 548-yard, par-5 18th a bit more “conservatively” than he would have if he weren’t in the driver’s seat he so abruptly earned on the 16th.

“I laid up on (No.) 18, because I felt at that point (standing one stroke ahead of Meierdierks, who birdied the 16th & 17th to reach 10-under after a triple-bogey, 8 derailed an otherwise cruise to victory earlier in the round), I knew I could make par at the worst and maybe make a good birdie with my wedge. I wanted to put the ball in everyone else’s court to make them do something great to catch me.”

With a two-putt par, his plan worked.

Still, Meierdierks -- after laying up on the last as well -- hit a nice approach to the twelve-foot range for the tie. But, after his putt failed to find the bottom of the hole, Mueller was officially a double-digit winner on The Gateway Tour.

“I guess it helped that I switched putters before today’s final round, I don’t know if it just helped me mentally or what, but I made quite a few putts today,” Mueller said of his 65. “I really just tried to stay patient out there and actually not play too aggressively, but just let the course come to me.”

“But, I’m just real happy to win this week, because you never know in this game when you’ll win next,” he added. “It’s just always about getting better and continually working hard to get better and more consistent, and I feel like that’s been happening in my game. I’m excited where that’s leading me.”

As for his immediate and tangible future, his game is leading to a title defense this coming week at the Hawaii Pearl Open. Mueller recently won the Hawaii State Open in December and now, crossing the Pacific with three victories in his last five professional golf starts, he’ll put up a good title defense for the Hawaii sweep to follow the Anthem domination, for certain.


Click here for full field results from Desert Winter Series No. 4 and stay tuned as the Tour resumes again next week, Feb. 9-11, at Palm Valley G.C. in Goodyear, Ariz…