Keith Mitchell

Exempt status

• PGA TOUR: Tournament winner (thru 2021-22)

JOINED TOUR

• PGA TOUR Latinoamérica: 2015
• Korn Ferry Tour: 2016
• PGA TOUR: 2018

PGA TOUR Victories (1)

• 2019 The Honda Classic

PLAYOFF RECORD

PGA TOUR LATINOAMERICA (0-1)

• 2015 Lost to Alexandre Rocha, Kent Bulle, Aberto do Brasil presented by Credit Suisse Hedging Griffo

Personal

• Graduated from the University of Georgia in 2014 with a degree in Business and Real Estate. Earned All-America honors in 2012.
• Attended The Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Fellow graduates of the school include Harris English, Stephan Jaeger and Luke List, as well as Brooke Pancake, who joined the LPGA in 2013.
• Very proud of his career path to the PGA TOUR and the work required to achieve his goals. Played on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica in 2015, collecting five top-10s, and played on the Korn Ferry Tour before earning his TOUR card for the 2017-18 season.
• Father, Jerry, is a doctor in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and a member at The Honors Course. Mother, Cynthia, plans girls trips to his tournaments with her best friends, who have all known him his entire life. The members of the group, who call themselves the "Auntorage," travel to tournaments every few months and wear matching hats. Sister, Brindley, attended the University of St. Andrews in Scotland from 2009 to 2013.
• Met his caddie, Pete Persolja, while Pete was a caddie at The Honors Course. Growing up, hired Persolja for club events and U.S. Amateur qualifiers before reconnecting with him full-time in 2016. Persolja, known as "Crunchy Pete," is well-known around TOUR for his quirkiness and positive attitude.
• Bought a 1977 Jeep Cherokee Chief and has been gradually restoring it while at home in St. Simons Island, with the help of fellow TOUR professional Michael Thompson.
• Knows Peyton Manning and first met him at age 4. Partnered with Manning and Andy Roddick, among others, on Sweetens Cove, an award-winning nine-hole public golf course outside of his hometown of Chattanooga.

Special Interests

• Fly fishing for bonefish at Blackfly Lodge in the Bahamas; finding the best restaurants at every PGA TOUR stop, including Galatoire's in New Orleans.

CURRENT YEAR HIGHLIGHTS

• 3M Open: Opened the third round at the 3M Open with seven consecutive birdies on Nos. 10-16 and went on to finish solo-fifth, his third top-five of the season. Became the fourth player since the start of the 2003 season to open a round with seven consecutive sub-par scores.
• Wells Fargo Championship: Held the 54-hole lead at the Wells Fargo Championship, the first of his PGA TOUR career, before finishing T3, earning his first top-10 on TOUR since the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (T5). Led the field in Par-4 Scoring Average (3.86).

Career Highlights

2021 Season

• 3M Open: Opened the third round at the 3M Open with seven consecutive birdies on Nos. 10-16 and went on to finish solo-fifth, his third top-five of the season. Became the fourth player since the start of the 2003 season to open a round with seven consecutive sub-par scores.
• Wells Fargo Championship: Held the 54-hole lead at the Wells Fargo Championship, the first of his PGA TOUR career, before finishing T3, earning his first top-10 on TOUR since the 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (T5). Led the field in Par-4 Scoring Average (3.86).

2020 Season

Advanced to the FedExCup Playoffs for the third time in as many seasons, ending the season at No. 112 in the FedExCup standings. Failed to qualify for the BMW Championship for the first time in his career. Recorded four top-25s, highlighted by a T5 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, and made 11 of 21 cuts.

• Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard: Finished T5 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard to earn a spot at The Open Championship via the Open Qualifying Series. Also got into The Open Championship through OQS at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in 2019.

2019 Season

Earned his first career PGA TOUR title at The Honda Classic and qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs for the second consecutive season, advancing to the BMW Championship for the second time and finishing No. 50 in the FedExCup. Represented first top-50 result in the FedExCup of his career. Recorded three top-10s and made 17 cuts in 26 starts.

• Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard: In his tournament debut, produced eight birdies for a final-round 66 to finish T6 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, a week after claiming his first title at The Honda Classic. Led the field with 21 birdies. As one of the top three finishers inside the top 10 not otherwise eligible for The Open Championship, earned a spot in the field at Royal Portrush.
• The Honda Classic: Began the final round of The Honda Classic a stroke off the lead before a final-round 67 resulted in his first career PGA TOUR win with a score of 9-under 271. Made a 15-foot, 6-inch birdie putt on the 72nd hole to win outright, defeating Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka by one shot. After leading the field in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green (+11.917) and finishing T2 in Scrambling (21 of 27), became the seventh player since 2000 to make The Honda Classic his first TOUR title. Became the 13th former Georgia Bulldog to win on the PGA TOUR.

2018 Season

Rookie season included 21 made cuts in 29 starts and four top-10s. One of eight rookies to advance to the FedExCup Playoffs, making it through the first three Playoffs events before ending his season at No. 67 in the standings. Ranked eighth on TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (.706) and Driving Distance (312.6).

• Dell Technologies Championship: Birdied his last two holes of the final round to finish 20th at the Dell Technologies Championship. Began the event outside the top-70 players but jumped 12 spots to qualify for the BMW Championship at No. 66 in the standings. One of four rookies who remained through the first two FedExCup Playoffs events.
• John Deere Classic: Posted scores of 67-68-66-67–268 (-19) at the John Deere Classic to finish T7. Birdied three of his last five holes in the final round to post the 67 in his first start at the event.
• AT&T Byron Nelson: Making his first ever start in the event, closed with a career-low bogey-free 63 to finish T3 at the AT&T Byron Nelson. Also started the week with a bogey-free 6-under 65. Finished the week first in cumulative Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (4.831).
• Houston Open: Making his debut appearance at the Houston Open, posted rounds of 67-71-67-69, resulting in a T6. Posted 22 birdies for the second consecutive week.
• Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship: Birdied the 72nd hole to post a 5-under 67 and finish solo-second at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. The par-4 18th ranked as the toughest hole of the tournament (4.247). Was one of just three players to birdie No. 18 in the final round (J.T. Poston, D.J. Trahan). Runner-up finish marked his first top-10 in 12 career starts on the PGA TOUR.

2017 Season

Finished the Korn Ferry Tour season with 22 starts, six top-10s and 17 cuts made. Was 21st in the final priority-ranking order. Secured his PGA TOUR card for the 2017-18 season with a 10th-place finish on the 2017 Korn Ferry Tour Finals money list (excluding the 25).

• DAP Championship: Secured his PGA TOUR card for the first time with his second top-10 of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals with a tie for sixth at the DAP Championship.
• Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship: Posted his third consecutive top-10 with a T6 finish at the Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship. Held the 36-hole lead after opening with rounds of 65-67 but posted rounds of 70-73 on the weekend. Carded a 6-under 65 in the opening round at the Ohio State University Golf Club to open up a one-shot lead.
• WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by Kraft-Heinz: Finished one shot away from earning his PGA TOUR card at the WinCo Foods Portland Open. Birdied Nos. 14 and 15 to get within one shot of jumping inside the top 25 on the money list but missed a six-foot birdie on No. 16, left a 20-footer at No. 17 one roll shy, and failed to get up and down on the 72nd hole for birdie to finish 26th on the Regular Season money list. Recorded a 1-under 70 in the final round for a T6 finish. Played his way into the final group on Sunday at Pumpkin Ridge with the round of the tournament in the third round – a 9-under 62.
• News Sentinel Open presented by Pilot: Recorded a career-best T3 finish at the News Sentinel Open with rounds of 68-68-65-67–268 (-16).
• El Bosque Mexico Championship by Innova: Earned a T8 at the El Bosque Mexico Championship, thanks to a final-round 5-under 67.
• Valspar Championship: Holed a 47-foot putt at the 72nd hole to finish T11 in his first career PGA TOUR start at the Valspar Championship after posting four rounds of par or better – 69-70-71-68–278 (-6). Led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (2.125), Driving Distance (309.9) and eagles (2). Earned his spot in the field via the Monday qualifier after holing a 25-foot birdie putt to emerge from a five-man playoff with the last spot.
• Panama Claro Championship: First top-10 of the Korn Ferry Tour season came at the Panama Claro Championship, where he carded a final-round 66 to finish T5.

Amateur Highlights

• In 2013, placed second in the Tennessee Amateur, 13th in the Players Amateur, 15th in the Dogwood Invitational, 17th in the Western Amateur and 18th in the Sunnehana Amateur.
• Qualified for the Korn Ferry Tour's 2013 Stadion Classic at UGA.
• Qualified for the 2011 and 2012 United States Amateur.
• All-American at the University of Georgia.
• Two-Time Dick Copas Award Winner for Georgia, given annually to the player with the lowest scoring average on the team.
• As a sophomore, had a team-best 10th-place finish at the SEC Championship.
• Paced the Bulldogs at the NCAAs, coming in ninth with a 1-over 214.
• As a junior, tied for first in the two-team Bulldog Battle at Mountain Lake and had top-10 efforts in the Brickyard Championship, the Linger Longer Invitational and the Insperity Augusta State Invitational.