On the eve of the 84th Masters and the first with a November backdrop, absence was already making the heart grow fonder for Keith Mitchell.
The former Baylor School and University of Georgia golfer made his Masters debut last year and shot a 1-under-par 287 to finish in a tie for 43rd. Mitchell earned his 2019 Masters invitation with a victory several weeks earlier at the Honda Classic, but the 28-year-old is not among the 92 in this year’s field who were greeted with a weather delay Thursday morning but can expect gorgeous weather for the rest of this history-making weekend at Augusta National.
“This just makes me want to go back even more,” Mitchell said. “When you’re a kid and when you’re in college and when you’re starting to play as a professional, it’s a dream to play at Augusta, and when you get there, you kind of realize your dream. When you miss making it the next year, it makes you more motivated, because you know what it’s like and you know what you’re missing.
“In a roundabout way, I think it’s a good thing that I get a little more motivation this coming year to try to get there in April.”
Mitchell’s performance at last year’s Masters ignited a surge of stellar showings by Baylor School alumni at major tournaments, a run highlighted by Luke List’s sixth-place finish at the 2019 PGA Championship and Harris English’s fourth-place finish earlier this year at the U.S. Open. English, Mitchell and List each made the cut at this year’s PGA Championship, with English ending up in a tie for 19th.