Seasoned competitor Mike Muehr calls it “limbo.”
He is referring to that period in an amateur’s career between ages 50 and 55. To his way of thinking, a player at that age isn’t competitive against the younger crowd but isn’t old enough to play senior amateur golf.
“Fiftysomethings just aren’t competitive against 25- to 30-year-olds,” he told me late last year. “It makes it tough to even want to play.”
Muehr’s solution to the conundrum: Turn professional.
That’s why he’ll tee it up on a sponsor’s exemption this week in Naples, Florida, at the Chubb Classic on the PGA Tour Champions.
This will be Muehr’s second bite at the pro tour apple. After graduating from Duke University in 1994, he played professionally, starting with mini-tours before finally gaining full-time PGA Tour status after six grueling years. He made almost 200 starts on the PGA Tour and what is now called the Korn Ferry Tour, but his stay on the big tour was cut short when he was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. A tennis ball-sized tumor was removed from his leg in 2002. After more surgery and treatment, he returned to action in 2003 on a major medical exemption, but he knew that his pro days were near an end.
Muehr took four years off from the game to plan his next career. He eventually settled in as a financial adviser with UBS Financial Services, got reinstated in 2007 and returned to the amateur game. He would play sparingly, however, teeing it up four or five times a year, primarily in USGA events. Many thought of him as the best amateur in the land who rarely played.
“The cocktail tour is phenomenal,” he told me, referring to the mid-amateur circuit of elite events like the Crump Cup, the Coleman Invitational and the George Thomas Invitational. “Great friends, best courses in the world, real camaraderie. But top-10 finishes just don’t do it for me.”
Asked if he might have remained an amateur if the USGA redefined the senior category to include 50- to 55-year-olds, his reply was quick and curt – “1,000 percent.”
He did win the Crump four times, the most recent coming last fall. He also advanced to quarterfinals of the U.S. Mid-Amateur in 2011 and 2016, medaling in stroke play at the latter tournament at Stonewall in Elverson, Pennsylvania.
The crux of the issue for Muehr is: the USGA currently defines senior amateur golf as 55 and older, even though the PGA Tour Champions circuit says senior golf begins at age 50. Additionally, certain states, like Muehr’s home state of Virginia, employ the 50-year-old mark. For Muehr, this makes all the difference. Asked if he might have remained an amateur if the USGA redefined the senior category to include 50- to 55-year-olds, his reply was quick and curt – “1,000 percent.”
Shortly after his Crump victory at New Jersey’s Pine Valley last September, at the urging of a good friend, Muehr’s thoughts turned to the PGA Tour Champions. When he discovered that his wife was all in, he decided to give it a go. And he finished third in the first-stage qualifier for the senior circuit and advanced to the finals.
Muehr needed a top-five finish there to be fully exempt, and he hovered around fifth all week long. As the final round began he thought it would take 9-under par to qualify, or at least reach a playoff. He made birdie on No. 15 to get to 8-under, but his approach shot on the 16th hole came up well short. He three-putted, and then made another bogey on No. 18 to finish 6-under and miss the top five. Making three pars was all it would have taken to get to a playoff at the number he forecast.
As the holiday season approached, Muehr still wasn’t sure if he would make the leap. But just before Christmas he received word that he would get an exemption into the Chubb Classic, and the decision was made. So long amateur golf, hello PGA Tour Champions.
It’s hard to be critical of Muehr’s decision. He was dealt a bad hand in 2004 and he played it as well as he could. He has a chance now to find out just how well he can play as a professional.
Muehr likely has the game to compete out there, and perhaps win. The amateur golf community will miss him, but it will be pulling for him on each and every professional shot he takes.
Top: Mike Muehr at the 2021 U.S. Mid-Amateur
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