For much of the third round of the 2024 Valspar Championship on Saturday at Innisbrook, it looked as if three, or five, or even more players could share the lead heading into Sunday. But then PGA Tour veteran Keith Mitchell closed with a bang that shut the door on that storyline.
With one hole left to play late on Saturday evening, Mitchell was tied for the lead at eight under with three other players: Seamus Power, Mackenzie Hughes and Peter Malnati.
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For Mitchell, all that was left to navigate was the tricky 417-yard, par-4 18th hole at the Copperhead Course, with its tight fairway protected on both sides by bunkers, and the green similarly defended up ahead.
A par would mean going to sleep sharing the lead. A birdie would mean owning the 54-hole lead all on his own. Mitchell did one better.
After expertly lacing a wood off the tee 266 yards down the fairway, the 32-year-old had 151 left to the pin. He pulled out a wedge, then sent his ball sailing in the air and watched as it landed a foot from the flag and bounced directly into the bottom of the cup.
Actually, Mitchell didn’t watch it. As his ball flew toward the green, he lowered his head and rubbed his eye as if something had flown into it after his swing. When someone told him the good news, his face registered a brief moment of shock before he started to celebrate with his caddie.
Check out the shot below.
Not only did the dramatic hole-out count for an eagle-2, it gave Mitchell a two-shot lead heading into Sunday’s final round and a fantastic opportunity to collect the second PGA Tour win of his career.
Mitchell’s only Tour victory to this point came at the 2019 Honda Classic. He has two top-10 finishes so far this year after earning five top 10s last year.
