JACKSON, Miss. — Keith Mitchell finished with a pair of birdies Saturday for a 7-under-par 65 and avoided some of the blunders that tripped up other contenders, giving him a one-shot lead going into the final round of the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship.
At stake for Mitchell, a 32-year-old Chattanooga native whose lone PGA Tour victory was more than five years ago, is a chance for the former Baylor School and University of Georgia standout to earn a spot in four premium events on the circuit next year.
He holed a birdie putt from just inside 40 feet on the 17th hole, then finished by correctly judging his lie in the rough with an approach to six feet for his last birdie. Mitchell, who was at 20-under 196 through 54 holes, had a one-shot lead over Beau Hossler.
“The putt on 17 was just a huge bonus,” Mitchell said. “Then I got an accident lie on 18 and hit a great shot. All in all, it started kind of slow, and the last 10 holes, I was just able to capitalize a little bit more.
Mitchell won the Honda Classic in March 2019 for his PGA Tour breakthrough.