Egg farm’s William Mouw cracks code in pro golf

William Mouw grew up working on an egg farm.

It instilled a work ethic that has served him well in his transition from collegiate to professional golf.

While one of golf’s most repeated tropes is about finding success by “digging it out of the dirt,” Mouw followed that sentiment literally – working for his parents at Billy’s Egg Farm in Chino, California. Tens of thousands of eggs are sold there every day, with Mouw’s parents Billy and Michelle celebrating 30 years in business in 2022. Employees would receive Christmas and Thanksgiving off, but the chickens didn’t rest, which meant Mouw would be working.

Mouw, now 22 and a Pepperdine grad, doesn’t take his Korn Ferry Tour membership for granted. After finishing No. 6 on the 2023 PGA TOUR University Ranking to earn conditional Korn Ferry Tour membership, he has thrived with five top-25s in six starts to begin his pro career – including a T13 at the TOUR’s John Deere Classic on a sponsor exemption.

“You dig down, you dig deep, you buckle up your boots and keep going,” Mouw said of life on the farm. “Stuff like that helps – being on your own for a while is an adjustment – but (working on the farm) taught me a lot of core values that you need to succeed.

“And having those at such a young age and seeing what my parents did … to be playing on the Korn Ferry Tour and playing professional golf is a blessing. I take that mindset each week.”

While Mouw was growing up – and working on the farm – he still found time to play multiple sports including football, baseball and basketball. At 14, though, he won the Junior World Golf Championships. He had played golf since he was 10 but didn’t realize the level of his talent until he won that big-time tournament on a big-time stage.

“That was cool,” Mouw said. “I knew I could improve at this game. (From there), I knew that golf was my thing, especially in high school.”

His passion for other sports didn’t entirely wane, however. After a basketball game when Mouw was a junior, he met his wife – who attended a rival high school. He was playing, she was in the stands. Mouw saw her in the crowd, went up to her, and got her number. Out of all the schools in California, Mouw laughs, he met his wife from his school’s biggest rival.

He proposed in 2022, and the pair got married this May in Arizona.

“Married life is amazing,” Mouw said. “It’s been really good. My wife works full-time as a nurse. With her schedule, here and there gets her a few days off, which then allows her to come out and see me. Having her support and presence on the road doesn’t make it feel like I’m on the road.”

Mouw was a star at Pepperdine – teammates included Sahith Theegala – three times earning All-American honors and featuring inside the top 10 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings. He helped the Waves to the 2021 national title, as well.

He made his PGA TOUR debut at the 2022 U.S. Open, missing the cut as an amateur, but gained valuable insights on what it takes to compete at the highest level. With university in the rear-view mirror, Mouw turned professional and hasn’t yet missed a cut as a pro. He’s 5-for-5 in made cuts on the Korn Ferry Tour, with four top-25s – highlighted by a T17 at the Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS – and took advantage of a sponsor exemption into the John Deere Classic, where he carded four rounds in the 60s for a T13.

“Being a golfer and being a professional golfer are two different things,” admits Mouw. “Coming into my junior year and with PGA TOUR U, I knew golf would be considered ‘my job’ so I’ve always worked hard, and I’ve loved working hard on the process. As long as you set out plans with what you’re going to do to improve and how you’re going to provide for your family … all this helped me to develop the person I want to be and how I want to play.”

While the Korn Ferry Tour season inches closer to its conclusion, Mouw will need a couple of big weeks in order to earn a PGA TOUR card for next season. But given where he’s come from, he’s just happy to keep having the opportunity to put in the work.

There’s nothing scrambled about his approach to pro golf. Mouw is trying to keep the sunny-side up because nothing will be over easy, and if you don’t have a plan, he knows you can quickly get poached.

“It’s like any job,” Mouw said, “you want do the best you can.”