Palm Harbor, Fla. – Keith Mitchell ran on a tough copperhead field in Innisbrook on Thursday until he lost two shots in his round and had to score two in the Under 67 47 and a five-line lead.
Gusts are sometimes within 30 mph. In a brief shower, the rain hit the player in the afternoon. And the course has become a reputation as one of the best tests on the PGA Tour.
For Mitchell, it’s all about timing. He is looking forward to a bogey like this day. It just stinged a little at the level of 5, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, five, and had to settle 67.
This set him apart from Stephan Jaeger, Jacob Bridgeman, Ricky Castillo and Sami Välimäki. Only 21 players broke 70 with the potential of another player, Kevin Velo had 27 holes and 27 holes when the game was suspended by the Dark.
Velo can enjoy Mitchell’s feelings. He didn’t bogey and tied with a lead until his day ended with a back-to-back bogey.
Mitchell entered the birdie opportunity from the 50-foot inside the eighth shot (17th hole) when he shortened it 10 feet, three-thirds bogey. Then he rode a strong wind in the right wind of the ninth uphill uphill, just over the back and finished with bogey.
“It’s crazy to say you’re staying there when the wind is strong,” Mitchell said. “I don’t want to say that because you’re going to make mistakes and you’re going to play pictures that you wish you could end or putt.
“But you sprinkle these two (bogey) out of the whole round and then sprinkle them elsewhere () I feel good.”
Xander Schauffele showed some improvement in the third straight game because of a rib injury for two months. He dropped a few photos like everyone else – three of his three of his four bogeys – and opened with 70.
Justin Thomas went out on the afternoon of 40, working hard, bogey-free in the last nine games to grab the 73-year-old. That’s better than Jordan Spieth, who won 10 years ago on the road to the Masters green jacket. Spieth hit only two fairways in 13 holes until his last five hits his last five holes.
He cut three feet from an 18-foot bogey on the 17th and 74 birds on the 18th.
Mitchell feels differently about Innisbrook, which is a course he likes but will bring him bad memories. He took two leads in the final round a year ago and he didn’t make a bird until he didn’t shoot 77 times until the 14th hole.
“I’ll still think about it,” Mitchell said. “It’s certainly still in my mind, and I hope it stays there, and hope the rest of my life will inspire me to remember the feeling when you let those tensions block your nerves. A round like today feels the opposite of that.”
The others, 67, were late. Jaeger Birds defending his title at the Houston Open next week. Bridgeman created the bogey and put together a 32-shot run on the first nine, starting with a hawk in the par 5 hole.
But trouble always lurks. Sahith Theegala is under 4 years old after five birds stretched out in the six holes of the back nine. He ended with a one-on-three bogey, one at 18 feet, at 17 feet, and the other from the 18th down the ridge about 60 feet, shooting 69.
