Keith Mitchell grabs share of lead at Valspar aiming for redemption

MIAMI – Keith Mitchell grabbed a share of the first-round lead at the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship on March 20, saying he is still learning from his agonizing last-round collapse in the event in 2024.

The American carded seven birdies and three bogeys in a four-under 67 that left him in a five-way tie for the lead when darkness halted play at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead course in Palm Harbor, Florida.

He was joined by Germany’s Stephan Jaeger, Finland’s Sami Valimaki and fellow Americans Jacob Bridgeman and Ricky Castillo on a windy day in which the early starters had a distinct advantage.

Given the conditions, Mitchell said he could not be too upset to close his round with back-to-back bogeys that dropped him from six-under into a share of the lead.

The 33-year-old three-putted his penultimate hole, the eighth, then found the right rough off the tee on the way to a bogey at the ninth.

“All in all I kept it together,” he said. “No. 8 was playing really hard today, and on No. 9 the wind just off left I couldn’t get it started far enough left and made bogeys there.

“But you take those two out of the round and sprinkle them somewhere else. I’m feeling good.”

Mitchell started last season’s final round at Innisbrook with a two-shot lead but carded a 77 that left him tied for 17th as Peter Malnati snapped a nine-year title drought.

Asked how he moved on from that, he said that he did not.

“I still think about it,” he said. “It’s still definitely in the back of my mind and I want it to stay there, hopefully for the rest of my career to just motivate me to remember what it feels like when you let those kind of nerves get