PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 18, 2022

Jesse Mueller

Southern Hills Country Club

Flash Quotes

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 2022 PGA Championship here at Southern Hills Country Club, Tulsa, Oklahoma. We are pleased to be joined by 2022 PGA professional champion Jesse Mueller.

Congratulations on your win, just four or five weeks ago. How has your life changed in the last four or five weeks, and how long did it take you to turn the page from what a terrific week in Austin to begin to get ready for what was happening this week?

JESSE MUELLER: Well, yeah, thank you. It was an amazing accomplishment to win the National Club Pro. With all the size of the field and the quality of the field, to be able to win, which is -- I had all aspects of my game going, and I needed it just for the quality of field and the amount of players. It was a great week for me for sure.

I didn't realize going into the week how important the -- I knew it was a big event, but I didn't realize how big of an event it was and all the doors it's opened up and opportunities that will be in the future for me.

Maybe that was a good thing, I don't know. But it's been a whirlwind since I got back for sure.

JOHN DEVER: When you did turn the page and began to maybe study up a little bit about Southern Hills, how did you package that within your game? I know you chipped very well in Austin; is that something you tried to carry on, or did you try to do different things off the tee? How did you prepare to play in a major championship?

JESSE MUELLER: As working full-time I don't get a ton of time to practice and play, so when I do, I try to -- I choose wisely where I spend my time, and I spend most of my time just chipping and putting.

At this point in my career I don't spend too much time hitting balls on the range anymore like I did when I was playing full time, so if I can go practice for an hour a day, I just go chip and putt, and that helps me prepare for these bigger tournaments for sure.

Q. Jesse, Thomas just brought up Coach Mike Small and I've talked to Mike about it, when he was grinding on the Nike Tour and trying to make the Tour. He said he became a better player when he started coaching full time. What is it about -- you went through that whole mini tour circuit, gateway, then now you are working full-time and less time to play. What is it about becoming a better player when you're working more hours?

JESSE MUELLER: Possibly. I've had time to think about it the last couple years, and I've had some really nice tournaments the last two or three years while not spending nearly the time I did when I was playing full time.

Some of it's perspective, I think. When you're playing full time that is your livelihood, so sometimes you can let that pressure build up. And now that I'm working full time it's more of a -- it's fun. It's a game, and it's more of a bonus that I get to play in these type of events.

So my perspective -- I still want to play well and succeed and win these events, but my perspective going into them is a little bit different than it was say 10 years ago.

Q. You played at the Olympic Club in the U.S. Open, made the cut, huge accomplishment, but you've been out here for the last three, four days. What are your impressions of Southern Hills and how it -- yeah, you've played in one major and this is your first PGA, but what are your impressions so far?

JESSE MUELLER: It's a challenging course. It's long, the rough is up and the green complexes, there's no let-up. I'm glad I feel good about my chipping because I'm going to be doing a lot of chipping this week, but just a great golf course.

I think the redesign they did, it's right in front of you but it's very challenging and fair, and you just really need all aspects of your game working. The best players at the end they'll be playing good in all aspects of their game this week.

Q. I'm curious about the connection between the two aspects of your professional life, your golf life. I wonder like when your students or people -- now that you know the best in the world, they come to you and say I want to hit it like Rory, do you give them a reality check, do you tell them you are in a different galaxy, or do you try to keep the illusions alive?

JESSE MUELLER: Well, because I can't swing like Rory, either, and I can't swing 125 miles per hour either. I swing 115 miles per hour, 114 miles per hour. Everybody's body is different. I don't teach a ton, but in the last six, seven years of teaching you just get everybody from different body types or different -- their flexibility is different, so you learn to work with each person individually and try to get them better, because not everybody can swing the same way and swing like the guys they see on TV.

Q. So you have the 20 club pros here this week, and I really hope you make the cut and you win the thing, but are you on the same planet that these top 50 guys here?

JESSE MUELLER: Well, in small glimpses maybe. I feel like when I -- at times I feel like my game is pretty good, and I feel like I can compete. I've played in the weekend of a major before, so I know I can get there. But those guys at the top are very good, and over a span of a year, no. But over a span of 18 holes, 36 holes, maybe.

Q. Being on the range with them or being on the course with them, it looks like you are really good at your short game. Is there times you think you could teach them something, or is there times that you think I wish these guys would teach me something?

JESSE MUELLER: Well, just being able to be around good players, I played with Martin Kaymer this week and Sergio and Collin, you can never spend enough time around good players.

I don't know exactly what I picked up, but I know I did. So the more time you can spend around good players -- and that's the advice I have for young players today: pick players that are better than you to hang around with, and I think you'll only get better that way.

Q. Talking about those guys, Kaymer, Sergio, and Collin, what were the things that impressed you the most that you want to try to replicate?

JESSE MUELLER: I only played five or six holes with some and nine with the other, but you can just tell their swings and their ball-striking is very good and very consistent.

You can tell why that's they've been so good for so long. Their games will hold up over long periods of time on different courses. So you can kind of just tell that from watching for a short amount of time for sure.

JOHN DEVER: Talk about the shared experience this is with your wife, and what happened in Austin, which was right near your anniversary, if I remember, but also what the last four or five weeks are and the culminating here this week in Tulsa.

JESSE MUELLER: Yeah, it's really fun to have her on the bag. Just to be able to -- that's such a unique experience to win that tournament and then to have her right there with me. It was fun. It's something that not everyone gets to share so intimately with their spouse or loved one, so it was fun to have her there.

She's good for me on the bag because it helps me -- keep me most comfortable in my own shoes or just be able to let myself play my own game. She enables me to do that. It's nice to have her on the bag for sure.

Q. Did the kids get an understanding about what you accomplished last month and this week? Are they here?

JESSE MUELLER: A little bit. They're not. My mother-in-law, Barb Schilling, is watching them. I'd like to thank her. That allows us to come out here and focus on the week, so that's a big help for us.

They're still a little young, 8 and 3, so I don't think they quite understand the significance of playing in the PGA Championship and one of the four biggest tournaments in the world, so I don't think they're quite there yet.

Q. How do you approach tournaments, whether it's local, whether it's Waste Management Phoenix Open, whether it's U.S. Open or PGA Championship? Do you set goals for yourself? And do they differ whether it's a local 54-hole championship to perhaps a major?

JESSE MUELLER: I wouldn't say I would set a goal for myself, but I'd say I try to enter -- in the Club Pro a few weeks ago, last year I played and I finished 29th and wasn't quite playing as well but my mentality was a little bit different. I was waiting for it instead of just -- at Barton Creek, going and getting it. I was a little bit more aggressive and just went with the mindset that I can win this. I may not, but I know that I can.

So I went in with a different mindset that week and it helped me out to have more focus right away rather than just seeing what happens.

Q. Obviously nothing is like experience, so you play in your first Waste Management, miss the cut; you play in your second one, now you know what to expect; the insanity, the fans, et cetera. Having played in a major and knowing what it's about, that certainly has to be in your mind how much it can help and you know you can get it done.

JESSE MUELLER: Yeah, and listening to Mr. Stockton earlier talk about what his dad told him, to be aggressive, and I think that's something that does help. It doesn't always mean going for every pin, but you're aggressively going to the center of the green or you're aggressively picking your spots to lay up. Always moving forward.

I think that is true; that's something I'll be able to try to do this week.

Q. Compare and contrast, you played in I believe the 2012 U.S. Open; that was as an individual. Here you're representing yourself as the PGA professional champion but also a member of the Team of 20. Is there anything different? I know you got together for a team photo, if you will, a few days ago, but maybe the different experience that it is for you here as opposed to a decade ago in San Francisco?

JESSE MUELLER: Yeah, it is for sure. Working in the golf industry now for eight, nine, ten years, however long I've been doing it, it is a greater appreciation for those who are working in the golf industry, who are helping grow the game and making golf an enjoyable game for everybody.

I'm proud to represent that group and for everyone who can't be here and those of us that are blessed enough to make it, it is a different perspective playing being a member of the PGA and being in the golf industry for sure.

JOHN DEVER: Thank you so much. Enjoy everything that this is. Enjoy it with your family, and have a great year as the PGA professional champion.

JESSE MUELLER: Will do, thank you.