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This golfer just made an eagle on the first hole of his PGA Tour career
Steve Dykes
One can only imagine what Keith Mitchell was thinking as he stood on the first tee at Innisbrook's Copperhead Course and heard his name called for the first PGA Tour start of his life:
His thought after finishing that first hole, though, may well have been, "Well, this isn't so tough!"
That's because Mitchell bombed a 323-yard drive down the middle, hit an approach from 220 yards to seven feet, and drained the eagle putt on the opening par 5. Unfortunately, there isn't footage of his impressive start, but here's a look at his scorecard.
Oh yeah, Mitchell, who finished T-5 at last month's Panama Claro Championship on the Web.com Tour, played pretty solidly the rest of the way, carding a first-round 69 at the Valspar Championship. And everything he did on Thursday is made more impressive by how his week started.
PGATour.com's Kevin Prise details a hectic few days for Mitchell, who flew from a Web.com Tour media obligation in Kansas City to a funeral in Baltimore then directly to the Tampa area where he Monday qualified for the event after his roommate dropped off his clubs. Well, technically, Mitchell Tuesday qualified, earning his spot with a birdie to win a Tuesday morning playoff.
"I just had one golf outfit, and a borrowed pair of golf shoes, and two sleeves of balls," Mitchell told Prise.
Well, now he's got his first PGA Tour round and eagle under his belt. Well, under someone's belt, at least.