Jesse Mueller: The former Red Mountain High School and Arizona State star posted his fifth career win on the Gateway Tour last week with a four-hole playoff victory over Brian Cooper at Vista Verde Golf Club in Rio Verde. With the win, Mueller’s first this season, he stamped himself as the man to beat this week in the $200,000 Gateway Winter Series Championship.
   “Yeah, I’d been playing really consistent all season, but a win always feels good,’’ said the 24-year-old Mesa resident, whose check for $22,000 vaulted him to the top of the combined Gateway Winter Series money heap with $49,347, or about $10,000 more than Justin Hicks, who is the leading money winner on the other Gateway Tour based in West Palm Beach, Fla.
    Mueller leads 46 players from the Scottsdale-based series against 35 members from Florida, which represents the top 36 percent from each tour. The winner in this week’s 72-hole chase that begins today and ends Sunday at the new Tom Lehman-designed Encanterra Club in Queen Creek will earn an additional $30,000.
    It’s been three years since Mueller graduated from ASU, and while he’s struggled at times, he tasted a little of the big time, too. In 2006 he had conditional status on the Nationwide Tour, and last year missed out at second stage, which brought him to his current lofty status on the Gateway.
   “The great thing about the Gateway is, I can try to Monday qualify for the Nationwide Tour, and if I don’t make it still play later that week – Wednesday through Friday -- on the Gateway,’’ explained Mueller, who had a fifth-, fourth- and two third-place finishes earlier before breaking through last week after losing by a shot the previous week.
    What’s the difference between the two tours? “Well, I’d say that the top 20 guys on the Gateway, which would be combining both the Arizona and Florida tours, are plenty good enough to play on the Nationwide,’’ he said. “But the Nationwide Tour, from top to bottom, is solid.’’
    Mueller said he improved about a shot a year while he was in college. “But now that I’m doing this full-time, you can’t help but get a lot better, and I have,’’ he said. “I guess I’m disappointed that I don’t have status on at least the Nationwide, but if I get my game where it needs to be, keep working hard, I’ll get there. . . . The best scenario for me at the moment is that I’m able to Monday qualify for a couple of Nationwide events in the near future, get on a roll and stay there.’’

NOTEWORTHY
    AJGA honors: Kris Strauss, the director of sales and marketing at Scottsdale-based OB Sports, and PING CEO John Solheim were both honored recently at the American Junior Golf Association’s annual awards banquet in Braselton, Ga. Strauss, who lives in Chandler, earned the AJGA’s Media Award for his work with the Rebath Heather Farr Classic. Solheim was honored with the Jordan “Digger’’ Smith Award for his contributions to junior golf. For more information, visit www.ajga.org.
    Grand opening: Troon North Golf Club in Scottsdale will host the grand opening of its Callaway Golf Performance Center on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The public is invited to experience free fittings and tours of the center, which is the first in Arizona and only the 10th nationwide. For more information, visit www.troonnorthgolf.com/performancecenter.
    On tap: The Arizona Public Links Championship takes place Friday through Sunday at the Randolph North Golf Complex in Tucson. Among the favorites are Phoenix’s Ken Kellaney, a two-time winner of the event, and Chandler Hamilton High School’s Andrew Yun, who was the runner-up last year. The format calls for 54 holes of stroke play with a 36-hole cut to low 60 players and ties.
    Best of the best: Members of the LPGA recently voted the Prospector Course at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club in the East Valley as the best-conditioned golf course out of 35 designated layouts on their tour in 2007. The Safeway International will once again take place at Superstition Mountain on March 27-30. For more information, visit www.safewaygolf.com.
    More info: Readers seeking more information from last week’s column on a Golf Digest “state of the game’’ survey featured in The Tribune can visit the report’s website at www.researchresourcecenter.com.