Muehr Not Thrown Off Course After Cancer Battle

By Beth Murrison, USGA

San Francisco – For many of the players at this week’s U.S. Amateur, the game plan is clear: finish his amateur career, turn professional and try to make a career playing golf.

For Mike Muehr, that plan was never quite as obvious. He enjoyed a solid, but not stellar four years at Duke University. But after graduating in 1994, he decided to give it a shot.

"I wasn’t a great college player so I didn’t really know what to expect," said Muehr. "I was prepared to give it a shot at making it a career. I ended up playing nine years and each year I got just a little bit better and steadily improved."

Being on the course Tuesday at The Olympic Club could be construed as a second chance at golf for Mike Muehr. (John Mummert/USGA)

After playing professionally in Europe for a year, he competed on the Nationwide Tour for four years, where he recorded two runner-up finishes. In 2000, he finally achieved every professional golfer’s dream when he successfully qualified for the PGA Tour for the 2001 season.

"That is one of those things I’ll never forget – sitting around after that sixth round," said Muehr of making it through the PGA Tour qualifying school. "It was the culmination of six years of scratching and clawing. With golf, it doesn’t matter how hard you work at it, you can work as hard or not and it doesn’t necessarily translate to success. So to finally get there was probably my greatest achievement in golf, looking back."

He played 32 events and recorded two top-10 finishes during his rookie year. He earned just enough money to finish in the top 125 that season, thus retaining his tour card for 2002. He struggled a bit during his second season on tour, but was continuing his path in professional golf.

That path soon hit an unexpected bump. On Aug. 26, 2002, he received a phone call that would forever change his course. The day after playing in the Reno-Tahoe Open, where he made the cut, he was playing in a pro-am. While waiting on the ninth hole, his cell phone rang. It was his dermatologist. Two weeks earlier, he’d had a few moles removed. The diagnosis was melanoma, the size of a tennis ball on his right Achilles.

Initially, Muehr figured he would deal with the cancer quickly and return to the golf course as soon as possible.

"Out of ignorance, I just thought, ‘OK, they can cut this off and send me on my way,’ " said Muehr. "Mine metastasized into my lymph nodes, which for melanoma is kind of a barometer. Once it gets to that stage, most oncologist will say it’s about a 50-50 shot."

He didn’t play again that season. Instead, he underwent several invasive surgeries and did treatments until the following June. He came back to play eight tournaments in 2003, but knew his playing days on tour were over.

"I pretty much was at that realization within a couple months," he said. "I played those eight tournaments and in the back of my mind I knew I wasn’t going to play beyond ’03. I met with several oncologists and they said I’d be crazy to put myself at such an elevated risk, of being out and exposed during the prime-time hours of the day."

So it was on to other things, which suited the 35-year-old Muehr just fine. A self-admitted grinder who was always a bit tough on himself on the golf course, he was ready to seek new challenges.

While he was going through cancer treatments, he worked for an investment bank for six months. After making the decision to retire from professional golf, he worked for the management firm Octagon. He left after a year there and started a foundation, Golf Pros Beating Cancer, which in two years has raised $250,000 for melanoma research. This year’s Golf Pros Beating Cancer outing will be held Sept. 10 in Washington, D.C., and will include 20 tour players.

In addition, Muehr and two partners started Crown Sports Management, which represents several up-and-coming talents on the PGA Tour, including Lucas Glover, Boo Weekley and Brandt Snedeker.

And as if that wasn’t enough to keep him busy, his thoughts turned again to playing the game. After looking at the USGA schedule and seeing some desirable locations on the horizon, including this year’s Amateur at The Olympic Club, he decided to apply to regain his amateur status. After the mandatory two-year waiting period, he got his amateur status back two weeks before his sectional qualifier for the Amateur, where he played well enough to earn a place at Olympic.

"I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel," said Muehr of returning to the U.S. Amateur for the first time since 1993. "Although I don’t get to play enough, I still have a level of expectation that is unrealistic. Having played for 30 years, I expect to play at that level that I left playing at. I just have to accept the fact that I won’t be able to play at that level and have fun. It’s very cliché but it’s true."

Also true is the fact that Muehr’s perspective is probably much different than most of the players at Olympic this week. Muehr, who lives in Potomac Falls, Va., with his wife, Nicole, and their six-month-old son, Mason, may not advance to match play. Rounds of 75-73 left him hovering near the cut line and he’ll probably have to wait until the second round concludes Wednesday morning to determine his fate.

But no matter what, he’ll leave Olympic with something much more important – a clean bill of health. This October, he’ll mark the fifth-year anniversary of living cancer-free.

And it’s impossible to imagine a golf score that could be more important than that.

Beth Murrison is a manager of media relations for the United States Golf Association. E-mail her at bmurrison@usga.org with any questions or comments.