Ninety Six, SC – Jesse Mueller of Mesa, AZ, making the first eGolf Tour start of his career, recorded a hole-in-one in his opening round of the $235,000 Grand Harbor Open and used it as a springboard towards a course-record 61 at The Golf Club at Star Fort on Wednesday. Mueller will take a four-shot lead heading into Thursday's second round of the 72-hole event.

Mueller, who traveled east for this week's event and next week's HGM Hotels Classic in Conover, NC, began his play in the greater Greenwood, SC area in solid style with birdies on the first two holes before recording three pars on Nos. 3-5. A birdie at the par-4 sixth would bring him to 3-under on his round, and that's when the unexpected drama hit.

Jesse MuellerStanding on the tee of the par-3 seventh at the George Cobb-designed Star Fort course, Mueller had never recorded a hole-in-one during a golf career that had witnessed thousands of rounds and great shots. That all changed rather quickly.

"It was playing about 150 yards and it was just a perfect little 8-iron, and playing downhill, you could see the whole thing," said Mueller.

By "see the whole thing," the easy-going Arizona native meant that he would watch the ball trickle in the hole for golf's most unexpected burst of exuberance. A nice round had just evolved into a possible great round, and Mueller did anything but let up.

"I was playing solid until then, but that definitely jump-started the whole thing," said the 27-year-old Mueller.

A birdie at the short par-5 eighth was offset by a bogey at the ninth, but Mueller's round was just getting started.

Back-nine birdies on Nos. 11, 13-16 and 18 gave the former Arizona State University golfer a closing nine of 6-under 30 and a course-record 11-under-par 61. With six birdies on his last eight holes, the laid-back Mueller burst onto the eGolf Tour scene in alarming fashion, and is now just 54 holes away from a possible title.

While every golfer reflects on a round and sums it up by what could have been or what he likely missed out on, Mueller put forth a seldom-heard touch of humility by saying it wasn't going to get any better than 61 on Wednesday.

"I couldn't have scored any better today. I got the most out of everything, and it's not like I left anything out there," said Mueller, who has four wins this year alone on Arizona-based mini tours.

The suddenly hot finish restricted any thoughts of 59, but Mueller is certainly no stranger to playing great golf and posting low scores. As a prodigious 18-year-old in July of 2001, Mueller became the youngest winner of the Arizona Amateur since 1926. During one of the four wins earlier this year, Mueller carded an 11-under 60, proving yet again he has no fear of going low.

But it's usually not the low round that players fear, it's the round the following day – where the odds of a repeat performance seem awfully low.

"I'll just try to keep it going tomorrow. It's a long week, so you really just have to be patient," said Mueller, who won the prestigious Hawaii State Open last December. "I tend to play my best when I'm patient – some days it happens, some days it doesn't."

After finishing his college career in 2005, Mueller played various tours before earning conditional Nationwide Tour status in the fall of 2006, and then again in the fall of 2008. In those two stints on the Nationwide Tour (2007 and 2009), Mueller managed to earn 12 starts via his status number, but only made five cuts during that period. Players without full status on the PGA TOUR's minor league circuit earn starts based on their finish at Q-School and after various re-shuffles throughout the season. For a young pro trying to make his mark, that's a tough road to hoe.

"It's nice to get in a groove and know when you are going to play each week," said Mueller, who cited his busy tournament schedule as a key in elevating his game this year. "It's tough (when you have conditional status) to get a call on Tuesday saying you're in and then tee it up on Wednesday. It's just hard to play that way."

Indeed, the ability to plan your week in advance is a bonus that often goes overlooked until a player is grasping at status on the PGA or Nationwide Tours.

For Mueller, a hot putter is also allowing for scores more reminiscent of "Golden Tee" than reality golf.

"My putting is finally more consistent this year," Mueller said. "It seems as if I've been putting better each year, and obviously that's a pretty important part of the game."

Ryan DillonFor his second round, Mueller will head 10 minutes down the road to tournament host The Patriot Golf Club. A Davis Love III layout and a stark contrast to the old-school nature of Star Fort, The Patriot yielded three rounds of 65 during the first round – a fact not lost on Mueller.

"The Patriot is a good layout. It's definitely harder (than Star Fort), but you can still score," he said.

Another Arizona resident, Ryan Dillon (Desert Hills, AZ), is alone in second place after posting a 7-under 65 at Star Fort in the first round. The former USC-Aiken standout is back playing the eGolf Tour full time after recovering from a wrist injury in 2009.

Playing just one hour from Aiken this week, Dillon recorded eight birdies and a lone bogey at the par-5 15th on his way to posting the lowest round of his eGolf Tour career.

Dillon's first start of the 2010 season came at the tour's Cowans Ford Open just three weeks ago, where he posted rounds of 67-67-74-67—275 to finish T26.

Alex HamiltonThe low rounds of the day at The Patriot were carded by Alex Hamilton (Aiken, SC), Scott Weatherly (Fort Payne, AL) and Chris Epperson (Hilton Head Island, SC), with each player posting a 6-under 65 on the par-71 layout. All three players are tied for third through 18 holes.

Hamilton, who starred at the University of South Carolina in college, is a former South Carolina Amateur champion and is currently a conditional member of the Nationwide Tour. One of the tour's most consistent performers, Hamilton has made four of five cuts this season and has three top-16 finishes in those events.

The trio of players from The Patriot is tied with Jonathan Moore, Tyrone Mordt, Trevor Bowman, Christopher Ross, Mike Welch and Matt Hughes, who each shot 6-under 66 at Star Fort in the opening round to tie for third (relative to par).

Second-round play in the Grand Harbor Open will begin at 8:00 AM on Thursday morning at both The Patriot and Star Fort. After the completion of 36 holes, the field will be cut to the low 71 players and ties, with the final two rounds being contested at The Patriot. The tournament is open to the public and free of charge.