He could not have had a better start to his career in the most important golf circuit in the world: the PGA Tour. To score an eagle on the first hole of the first U.S. Tour tournament he has ever played in his life is something you don’t see very often, or for a long time. The lucky protagonist of this magnificent shot is Keith Mitchell, a player of the Web.com Tour (the American “second division” circuit, equivalent to the European Challenge Tour). equivalent to the European Challenge Tour) who managed to qualify for the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship, (being played this week in Palm Harbor, Florida).
The eagle was scored on a par 5 with a first shot of 295 meters, a second of 201 and a put of two meters. He concluded the round with a score of 69 strokes, 7 behind the leader, and ranked twenty-fourth.
The way in which he qualified to play the tournament also has its own story, since Mitchell flew from Kansas Citi to Baltimore to attend a funeral and from there to Tampa to participate in the so-called Monday Qualified, winning his place for the Valspar Championship with a birdie that meant winning a playoff and obtaining the passport to play the PGA Tour tournament. On top of that, he didn’t carry his own clubs and had to play with some that he borrowed from his roommate.
“I only had one golf outfit, a borrowed pair of shoes and two packs of balls,” Mitchell said of how he had come to Monday’s qualifying event.
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