Baylor alum Keith Mitchell tied for lead at PGA Tour's Honda Classic

Keith Mitchell hits onto the green on the third hole during Friday's second round of the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Mitchell shot a 4-under-par 66 PGA National's Champions Course and was tied for the 36-hole lead with Sungjae Im. Mitchell played at Baylor School and the University of Georgia.
Keith Mitchell hits onto the green on the third hole during Friday's second round of the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Mitchell shot a 4-under-par 66 PGA National's Champions Course and was tied for the 36-hole lead with Sungjae Im. Mitchell played at Baylor School and the University of Georgia.
photo Keith Mitchell hits onto the green on the third hole during Friday's second round of the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Mitchell shot a 4-under-par 66 PGA National's Champions Course and was tied for the 36-hole lead with Sungjae Im. Mitchell played at Baylor School and the University of Georgia.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Former Baylor School golf standout Luke List came extremely close to winning the Honda Classic last year.

Now another former Red Raider is headed to the weekend with a share of the lead in the PGA Tour event.

Keith Mitchell shot a 4-under-par 66 Friday on the Champions Course at PGA National, and the 27-year-old Chattanooga native will be part of what could be considered a surprise final pairing in the third round. Mitchell and Sungjae Im, a 20-year-old South Korean rookie who posted a second-round 64, were at 6-under 134 after 36 holes with each looking for his first win on the top circuit.

"It's just nice to kind of feel like you're in contention and playing well," said Mitchell, who had missed the cut in three of his past four events and finished 73rd in the other.

The former Georgia Bulldog has just two top-20 finishes in the 2018-19 season - a tie for 14th in The CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in November and a tie for 15th at the Sony Open in January - but he settled in Friday with five birdies to offset a bogey.

"You're out there actually trying to make birdies instead of trying to salvage and trying to make a cut trying to make a birdie and force it," Mitchell said. "Today we were just out there trying to hit good shots."

Im, who played in the first group to tee off, had seven birdies and a bogey to match the low round of the week. Jhonattan Vegas had posted a 64 to take the first-round lead, and Adam Svensson shot the same score Friday.

Im got through the second round on only 25 putts. He was the leading money winner on the Web.com Tour last year - he won the first start of his career on the second-tier circuit - after staying atop the list for the entire season, during which he played his way into two majors.

"I was hitting the ball really well today, so all my putts were under 10 feet," said Im, who had a 6:45 a.m. tee time but will be able to sleep in much later today, with his tee time scheduled for 1:35 p.m.

Lucas Glover (69) was third at 5 under, and nine players were tied for fourth at 4 under.

"Can't be too upset with 1 under around here, to be honest," said Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion who has three straight rounds in the 60s at PGA National going back to his final-round 66 last year. "Wind picked up a little towards the end. I didn't hit it great, but got myself into the thing."

Chattanooga's Stephan Jaeger, a former Baylor and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout, shot a 72 and was tied for 43rd at par. One stroke back and tied for 51st was fellow former Red Raiders golfer Harris English (71).

List, who lost a one-hole playoff to Justin Thomas last year, missed the cut by four strokes after following his opening 71 with a 75. A repeat seems unlikely for Thomas (74), who made the cut on the number after his Friday included an eagle, two birdies, three bogeys, a double and a triple.

In all, 83 players made the cut, which means a second cut to top 70 and ties will happen before the final round.

» At the PGA Tour Champions' Cologuard Classic, where Mark O'Meara led after opening with a 66, Chattanooga's Gibby Gilbert III shot a 71 and was tied for 23rd.

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