Keith Mitchell grabs share of lead at Valspar aiming for redemption
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Keith Mitchell of the United States plays a shot on the 14th hole during the first round of the Valspar Championship.
PHOTO: AFP
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MIAMI – Keith Mitchell grabbed a share of the first-round lead at the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship on March 20, saying he is still learning from his agonizing last-round collapse in the event in 2024.
The American carded seven birdies and three bogeys in a four-under 67 that left him in a five-way tie for the lead when darkness halted play at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead course in Palm Harbor, Florida.
He was joined by Germany’s Stephan Jaeger, Finland’s Sami Valimaki and fellow Americans Jacob Bridgeman and Ricky Castillo on a windy day in which the early starters had a distinct advantage.
Given the conditions, Mitchell said he could not be too upset to close his round with back-to-back bogeys that dropped him from six-under into a share of the lead.
The 33-year-old three-putted his penultimate hole, the eighth, then found the right rough off the tee on the way to a bogey at the ninth.
“All in all I kept it together,” he said. “No. 8 was playing really hard today, and on No. 9 the wind just off left I couldn’t get it started far enough left and made bogeys there.
“But you take those two out of the round and sprinkle them somewhere else. I’m feeling good.”
Mitchell started last season’s final round at Innisbrook with a two-shot lead but carded a 77 that left him tied for 17th as Peter Malnati snapped a nine-year title drought.
Asked how he moved on from that, he said that he did not.
“I still think about it,” he said. “It’s still definitely in the back of my mind and I want it to stay there, hopefully for the rest of my career to just motivate me to remember what it feels like when you let those kind of nerves get in your way.
“A round like today feels like the opposite of that,” added Mitchell, who is trying to add a second Tour title to his 2019 Honda Classic crown.
Jaeger, who claimed his first title at the Houston Open in 2024, closed with back-to-back birdies, getting up and down from a bunker to pick up a stroke at 18 and join the leading group.
He said he was actually aiming for the bunker after his wind-whipped tee shot found the right rough.
“To be honest with you that’s the only play I had,” he said. “I knew the bunker shot wasn’t terribly difficult, but obviously making that is a bonus. I would have taken par any day of the week.” AFP
