Keith Mitchell caps incredible Valspar Championship round with tantalizing hole-out

Take a bow, Keith Mitchell.

The former Georgia Bulldog played his final three holes at 4 under at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course, moving him to the top of the leaderboard with a total of 10 under.

This stretch at the end of three holes, known as the “snake pit,” often trips players up due to its difficulty. Every year, these holes rank among his hardest on the PGA Tour, but Mitchell made it look easy in the third round of his championship at Valspar.

He birdied the difficult par-4 16th and par-3 17th, but what he did on the 18th was nothing short of amazing.

mitchell hit his approach in the hole He scored from 151 yards to go, becoming the first player in tournament history to play the snake pit with seven strokes.

Mitchell said of his second shot on the 18th, “When I looked up, I felt like something was flying into my eye, so I looked away, but I didn’t see the ball come down and land, but I hit it.” “I was satisfied with the contact when it happened.”

“It’s a raised green so I couldn’t see it go into the hole anyway, but I couldn’t even see it fall next to the flag.”

He didn’t need to see anything to know that something unusual had happened. After Mitchell one-hopped into the hole, the gallery erupted into a loud cheer for him that echoed throughout Innisbrook.

This exquisite shot gave Mitchell a two-stroke lead through 54 holes at the Valspar Championship.

“Obviously there was some luck involved, but the good thing was that I was able to make all the shots I wanted to make. That was really all I could do. I hit the same shot and made three pars. I would have been just as happy,” Mitchell said of playing at the Snake Pit.

“I hit everything where I wanted to hit it. [My caddy] We had some good numbers and we executed well. Here, the wind, small greens, and small fairways can make a good shot go unrewarded. But all in all, what really matters is what you can control tomorrow. ”

It all started with a great approach to the 16th, the most difficult hole on the course. Miscell then hit a double breaker and got a birdie to move to 7 under.

“I hit the 9-iron pretty well, but it actually just went a little over the flag,” Mitchell said of No. 16.

“This was the first really good putt I hit a really long distance all day. I finally read one correctly and hit it, and when I was about 3 feet out I knew the ball was in the hole. I did a little fist pump there, trying to get some energy and momentum.”

“The 17th was really between clubs. It was between 6 and 7 o’clock,” Mitchell said.

“I ended up hitting No. 6 to get as much wind out of the shot as possible. So I had to take almost 20 yards off that club to get to where I ended up. That’s the number I hit this day. It was one of the best shots I’ve ever shot. It was just like a tap-in putt.”

Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images

Then, on the 18th, Mitchell dunked a 7-iron for an impressive 6-under 29 on the back nine.

Mitchell had three bogeys on his opening nine and closed with a 5-under 66. However, he created a story-like finish that even Hollywood could not create.

This gives Mitchell his first win on the PGA Tour since 2019, when he won his first at the Honda Classic.

“I tell myself that a lot, but if you say it too much and you don’t win, it can actually be a negative. It’s really hard to win here,” Mitchell said.

“I think I felt like I won early and could win more. Unfortunately, the expectations here are very high. Hopefully I continue to work on the right things and maybe put myself in contention more often.” You can even add something more to your practice so that you can do it. The more you compete, the better your chances of winning.”

Mitchell has two top-10 finishes this season, his most recent being a tie for ninth at the Cognizant Classic. Since winning in 2019, “Cashmere Keith” has finished in the top 10 on the PGA Tour 19 times. He enters the fray often, which only increases his chances of winning.

But Mitchell hasn’t had an opportunity like this in a while. It’s all thanks to conquering the Snake Pit and giving it a taste of his own medicine.

Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.