Tag: Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa

Ohio teaching pro who once got a lesson from Tiger Woods earns berth into 2022 PGA Championship

Worthington was one of 20 players to earn a berth into the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

AUSTIN, Texas — Wyatt Worthington II stood just off the 18th green at Barton Creek Spa and Resort and shook his head slowly.

After posting a steady 73 on a blustery day, the 35-year-old teaching pro from a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, saw his name near the top of the leaderboard at the PGA Professional Championship and knew he was in the clear — Worthington was one of 20 players to earn a berth into next month’s PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

Although this wasn’t the first time he’d made the cut — in 2016, he became the second Black PGA Club Professional to earn a berth in the major, following Tom Woodard of Denver who qualified in 1990 and played in the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick — but the road back made this just as special as Worthington’s first foray.

“Looking around, to even see my name on my leaderboard, I’m still in shock. It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said. “I know it needs to be a quick turnaround because there’s a lot of things that be done.

“But you know, I’m blessed. I definitely didn’t have my best by any means, but to finish this high and to be in the top 20, and to have another crack at the PGA Championship, I still can’t believe it.”

Worthington, who teaches at The Golf Depot at Central Park in Gahanna, is aware of the game’s need for diversity and inclusion. He hopes his story will help shed light on the need to bring more people of various races into the game, not just as players, but in the industry as a whole.

And while Worthington has made a career out of giving lessons, he once received instruction from perhaps the game’s greatest player — Tiger Woods. During his freshman year in high school at Groveport High School, Worthington was part of a Tiger Woods Foundation event at the now-shuttered Bridgeview Golf Course in Columbus.

“I’m looking at the bigger picture,” he said. “Having this type of exposure for African-Americans not only in the golf industry but it’s seeing the bigger picture in and getting more people who look like me involved in this game, that’s what it’s really about.”

During the final round, Worthington battled high winds on the Fazio Foothills course, but maintained his presence on the back nine, dropping just a single shot on the 13th hole.

“Once the wind picked up, it was like somehow the fairways just got a little tighter, some of them got a little smaller, but I think they kind of just had the trust your lines and trust your numbers,” Worthington said, crediting his caddie Andy Gibson.

Worthington finished in a tie for fourth with Ryan Vermeer at 4 under for the event, a shot behind the duo of Michael Block and Jared Jones and six shots behind champion Jesse Mueller. The low 20 scorers earned exemptions into the 2022 PGA Championship, which will be held May 16-22 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

And how did Worthington plan to celebrate an invitation to a major?

“I need to rest,” he said. “I’m actually in agony right now, a lot of pain with my knees. I thought I was going to withdraw, to be honest. Nothing too crazy. Maybe I’ll have a milkshake.”

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With wife as caddie, Jesse Mueller wins PGA Professional Championship, earns one of 20 PGA Championship berths

Jesse Mueller and his wife celebrated their anniversary this year with dinner from Domino’s Pizza.

AUSTIN, Texas — Jesse Mueller’s idea of the perfect anniversary gift was heavy, time-consuming and required a little elbow grease. And his wife, also named Jessie albeit with a different spelling, wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Just a few days after celebrating his 12th wedding anniversary, the Arizona State University product and golf director at the Grand Canyon University course enjoyed a perfect Wednesday stroll around the grounds at picturesque Barton Creek Resort and Spa. He did so with his wife hauling his clubs around in the fill-in role of caddie, something she did for four days because her husband needed a helping hand.

And Mueller, who held a five-shot advantage heading into the final round of the PGA Professional Championship, did nothing to compromise his comfortable lead during Wednesday’s final round, finishing with a ho-hum 74 to earn take the title and one of 20 berths into the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, next month.

Mueller’s story is familiar — after a stellar high school at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Arizona, and a college career at ASU, he kept grinding through a few years on minor circuits and mini-tours, with a dozen-and-a-half starts on the Web.com Tour sprinkled in.

He said his appreciation for the game has never wavered, but the weight that’s been lifted by his jump into course management has allowed him to enjoy the game a bit more.

“Some of the pressure’s off. It’s not my livelihood to play, so it’s more of a bonus,” he said. “I’m still working on it, practicing, but I might be a better player now than I was when I was playing full-time.”

Mueller — who became the first Southwest Section champ in the tournament’s history, dating back to 1968 — used an impeccable short game to build a big advantage, and while his chipping wasn’t as flawless in Wednesday’s final round as it had been earlier in the week, he managed to pull a few more key shots out of the bag.

PGA Professional Champion Jesse Mueller poses with the Walter Hagen Cup after winning the 54th PGA Professional Championship at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa on April 20, 2022, in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)

For example, Mueller saved par on No. 14 with an exquisite chip to a few inches that kept the lead at five strokes.

“On the first three days, I could not have chipped any better,” he said. “I chipped in three times for the week and I was just getting up and down all over the place. Out here, you have to because it’s so hard to hit all the greens with how windy is. So you have to get up and down out here.”

Despite a pair of bogeys coming down the homestretch, Mueller still finished the four-day event at 10 under, topping Jared Jones and Michael Block by five strokes.

Among those who also made a big move in the wind on Wednesday was Shawn Warren, a 37-year-old pro from Maine who qualified for his third PGA Championship by lighting up the windy course on Wednesday. While others were going backward, Warren fired a 66 — the best of the day — to leapfrog his way into the top 20. Warren, a former four-year captain at Marshall University, first reached the major in 2018.

But the big story was Mueller, who has previously played in one major— the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. His wife has been training for a climb this summer at Mount Rainier, and that helped as the two traversed the rolling Austin hills.

And although her anniversary dinner consisted of Domino’s Pizza — since the pair finished their round late on Sunday and couldn’t find any nearby restaurants still open — Jessie insisted it was well worth the change in plans.

“It’s been a roller-coaster, for sure,” she said. “But he’s a phenomenal player, and I know that. The key was just to keep things going and have his game working at the right times, which he did this week.

“I’m really, really proud of him.”

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Jesse Mueller fires 66, holds sizable 54-hole lead at PGA Professional Championship

Barring a major meltdown, the Arizona State product will get a second crack at a major.

The only time Jesse Mueller qualified for a major — the 2012 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco — he did himself proud, making the cut and finishing T-51 with a host of others, including current PGA Tour member Branden Grace.

Barring a major meltdown, the Arizona State product will get a second crack at a major when the PGA Championship gets underway at Tulsa’s Southern Hills in May.

Mueller maintained a hot hand, firing a 66 during Tuesday’s third round to take a sizable lead into the final day of play at the 2022 PGA Professional Championship in Austin, Texas.

While playing the Fazio Foothills course at Barton Creek Spa and Resort, Mueller was consistently attacking the stick on a windy, overcast day in the Texas state capital. He dropped just a single shot, on the long par-4 13th, but posted birdies on two of the last three holes to take a commanding five-stroke lead.

Mueller, the Director of Golf at Grand Canyon University’s Golf Course in Phoenix, sits at 13 under through three rounds. Casey Pyne is 8 under while three players — Kyle Mendoza, Colin Inglis and Michael Block — are all six shots back at 7 under.

Through a solid and steady front nine, Mueller dropped a birdie on No. 4 and then had a spectacular hole-out birdie on No. 8.

A total of 103 players made the first cut Monday night and the field will be cut again in advance of Thursday’s final round with the low 70 scorers and ties playing again on Fazio Foothills.

The lowest 20 scorers will be offered a spot in the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club on May 16-22.

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PGA Professional Championship canceled after rise in Texas COVID-19 cases

The event at Omni Barton Creek was scheduled for July 19–22 after the original event, slated for late April, was postponed on March 16.

The Omni Barton Creek Resort was preparing to host the PGA Professional Championship on its Fazio Foothills and Coore Crenshaw golf courses from July 19–22 after the original event, slated for late April, was postponed on March 16 due to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases.

But now the rescheduled event is off the table, too.

“Despite a deep desire to stage our signature Member Championship on behalf of its talented field,” the PGA said in a statement Monday, “it became apparent after consultation with local health authorities in Austin last week that this could not be done responsibly.

“With the health and well-being of our PGA Members, volunteers, rules officials and staff serving as our guiding principles throughout this effort, recent COVID-19 surges in the area and various travel restrictions made our collective pursuit prohibitive.”

Spencer Cody, the director of golf operations for the resort, said health risks to traveling participants and staff members as well as a spike in cases among Texas and Florida residents led to the event’s cancellation.

The highest number of new positive tests in a single day in Travis County was reported Sunday — 636. The county’s second-highest number of cases was reported Monday with 508.

“It became very clear to all involved that it should be canceled for this year,” Cody said, “and we’re working very closely with PGA of America to host in a future year.”

After the event’s initial postponement, the resort worked with Club Car to bring in an additional 200 golf carts in anticipation of each participant needing to use their own golf cart for the duration of the championship.

According to Cody, the resort will have “no changes” to its operations team as a result of the event’s cancellation. Volunteer members who signed up to assist are being notified.

The office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management in Austin did not make anyone available for comment Tuesday. A statement provided by a City of Austin spokesperson cited Governor Greg Abbott’s mandate to draw back his initial plan to reopen businesses in Texas.

“Austin-Travis County is working to keep our community safe. Last week, the Governor amended GA-26 to give (the) mayor or county judge, in consultation with the health authority, the ability to impose restrictions on outdoor events over 100 people where previously the authority was for events over 500 people.”

The resort has previously hosted three PGA events, all in 2019. The Men’s PGA Cup began in September while the inaugural Women’s PGA Cup, the Senior PGA Professional Championship took place in October.

Discussions to schedule another meeting are still in the preliminary stages, and the event could resume next year or later, Cody said.

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