What is a ‘Thai spinner’? Pro explains ‘one of best shots I’ve ever hit’

Keith Mitchell is cruising at the 2025 Texas Children’s Houston Open. But one crafty shot in particular had Mitchell beaming — and golf fans gushing — Friday night. It’s called the “Thai spinner”, and Mitchell explained everything about it after his second round.

Mitchell’s heroic bunker shot

The scene was Thursday’s opening round at Memorial Park. Playing the par-3 9th hole, the PGA Tour veteran lost his tee shot into a back-right greenside bunker, and he was left with an almost impossible scenario, which he described in his press conference.

“I was in the back of the bunker and I had the lip behind me so I couldn’t really get a straight up and down backswing enough to hit the ball high, land on the green and stop it,” Mitchell explained. “There was water on the other side, pretty much had everything going against me.”

And then Mitchell detailed the “only shot” he could make from that spot: the Thai spinner.

“The only shot that I could think of was just kind of stab it, catch the ball first and try to scoot it up the slope and then make it spin when it got on top.”

It’s safe to say he pulled it off. As you can see for yourself below, Mitchell enacted his plan, spinning shot perfectly in what he said was one of the top shots of his life.

“I don’t know how I did it, but it was probably one of the best shots I’ve ever hit and came out exactly like I wanted it to and almost went in the hole.”

How to hit a ‘Thai spinner’

It turns out the Thai spinner comes from another PGA Tour pro, Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat. Mitchell named him as the originator of the shot and explained exactly what it is.

“So Kiradech kind of hits a shot where he takes a 60, stabs it and it kind of skips and then just has a ton of spin and stops,” Mitchell said on Friday.

According to Mitchell, the key to hitting a Thai spinner out of a bunker is to disavow a golden rule for bunker shots: hitting the sand first.

Bunker Shots

The opposite is necessary for a Thai spinner: hitting the ball first.

“Out of the bunker everyone teaches you to hit the sand first and try to blast it and hit it up high in the air. I couldn’t do it in that situation, there was just no other option. There was the lip behind me, I had to fly it on top of the green, stop it or else it was going to go in the water. I just didn’t have that option,” Mitchell said of the shot. “So that’s when I decided to hit ball first. And when you hit ball first, it comes out really low and hot with a lot of spin. It’s not something I’ve really ever practiced, but I’ve kind of just messed around with it for fun. Just had to do it there, it was the only option I had and pulled it off.”

Mitchell impressed himself with the shot, so much so that he posted a video of it to his Instagram page. That post received comments from other Tour pros.

“It was funny, when I originally posted, the only people that commented or texted were other Tour players because they were like, what was that, because they knew exactly what it was and how difficult it was,” he said. “You know, we all know kind of the shots that each other hits, and those guys have hit shots that I would probably never be able to hit or wouldn’t have hit in the situation. It’s just kind of fun to kind of go back and forth with each other when you know somebody actually did pull it off.”

Mitchell begins the third round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open T9 at seven under, four shots behind Scottie Scheffler.