Keith Mitchell Overcomes 'Stupid Mistake' to Co-Lead in Houston

Keith Mitchell has developed a tendency for strong beginnings.

On Thursday at the Texas Children’s Houston Open, everything remained typical—except, naturally, for what happened on the first hole.

Mitchell carded a 5-under 65 to tie for the first-round lead alongside Alejandro Tosti, Ryan Gerard, and Taylor Pendrith at Memorial Park. This was his fifth instance out of eight tournaments this year where he scored 68 or better in the initial round.

However, returning to that initial hole—the par-4 first—where Mitchell had one of his two bogeys amidst a round featuring five birdies and an eagle. He referred to this as "a completely foolish error" following landing squarely in the center of the fairway. His subsequent attempt from 203 yards away ended up around 35 yards off target to the right, ending up in a greenside bunker rather than near the pin.

Mitchell later revealed there was a rationale behind his actions.

It was lift, clean and place, but I skipped the cleaning part," Mitchell explained. "I basically had a mud ball and hit it straight, so my caddy teased me about it, which I totally deserved.

Mitchel fell short by approximately 10 feet and failed to make that putt, but he recovered nicely with six under par for the remainder of his game.

The current difficulty lies in maintaining the pace, an area where Mitchell has faced challenges this season. Think about all those impressive opening rounds; however, he hasn’t managed to secure a top-20 spot in his initial seven tournaments.

When asked about potential changes for improving his outcome this week, Mitchell replied, "Perform better from Friday through Sunday."

And, if allowed, make sure to wipe the dirt off his ball.