Pro, leading Tour event, still focused on college football

Keith Mitchell is a classic Georgia boy.

He’s earned the moniker “Cashmere Keith” for his frequency to sport luxury sweaters and cardigans, but also his oft use of whites and bright pastels in his wardrobe, a classic embodiment of the southern vibe.

He also speaks with the melodic cadence that can only be identified as a strong Georgian draw.

But most importantly to the context of this dispatch, he loves his Georgia Bulldogs football, so much so, he’s even thinking about it while competing on the PGA Tour.

While much of the PGA Tour season is now played in the vacuum of America’s most popular sport, this week’s Sanderson Farms Championship is played during the FedEx Cup Fall season and has the unenviable task of going right up against the heart of football season.

So with PGA Tour events running from Thursday to Sunday, Saturday’s third round was taking place right as Mitchell’s Bulldogs were taking on the Auburn Tigers.

But even as Mitchell was five under for the day through 15 holes, getting to 18 under and tying the tournament lead, he wanted to check in on the game.

As he stood on the 16th tee, he asked a fan to give him some updates.

“Are you looking at football scores?” he asked.

“Oh yeah!” the fan replied.

“What do we got?”

“14-10 Dawgs,” the fan told him, giving him the good news that his beloved 5th-ranked Bulldogs were winning against the unranked Tigers.

Then Mitchell’s attention turned to the team that issued Georgia its first loss of the season last week in Tuscaloosa.

“What about the Bama score?” Mitchell asked.

“23-14 Commodores,” the fan replied, telling him of the shock of the college football world thus far that afternoon that No. 1 Alabama was losing to unranked Vanderbilt.

The Golf Channel camera was focused on Mitchell’s playing partner Jacob Bridgeman and his caddie, who looked shocked to hear Alabama was losing.

“Holy Cow!” someone said.

But Mitchell was still focused on his game.

“Auburn scored though? 14-10?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

If you thought any of this meant Mitchell was losing touch with his round, think again. The veteran drained a 37-foot bomb for birdie on 17 before stuffing his approach at No. 18 to inside seven feet for another one, giving him the solo lead at the Sanderson heading into the final round.

Asked how he intends to prepare for the final round, he turned toward the other major football league; the NFL.

“I definitely need to set my fantasy football lineup,” Mitchell told Golf Channel. “I haven’t done that yet. I picked some guys off the wavier wire and I got to get it in before I tee off tomorrow.”

Luckily, Mitchell has plenty of time to set his lineup as he plays in the final group at 2:20 p.m. ET on Sunday.