It was the second round of THE PLAYERS Championship 2023. A thunderstorm was approaching and the play was about to get suspended for the day. Keith Mitchell was lining up off the tee on the par-4 5th hole at TPC Sawgrass, his 14th for the day. He had the option to wait it out and move the play to Saturday. But Mitchell chose to drive the ball in the challenging weather conditions. He swung it away from the fairway as the ball was heading towards the lake.
That is when it happened. Frustrated with his mishit, Mitchell dug his driver into the tee zone grass. The aftermath looked so gruesome that anyone who missed the PGA Tour Pro’s misconduct would have thought someone was trying to drive the divot to the fairway. A huge chunk of the ground just lying there at the tee spot was not what anyone was expecting to see. Mitchell ended up scoring a 1-over on the hole and 2-over par 74 for the day. The incident made it to the list of the most controversial moments at THE PLAYERS Championship.
Fast-forward to March 13, 2025. This time, it was the first round of THE PLAYERS Championship. Keith Mitchell was on his second hole, a par-5 11th hole at TPC Sawgrass. He had already hit his tee for 298 yards and was on his 2nd shot for the hole. That is when it happened, again! Soon after Mitchell hit the ball, he followed the trajectory for a second before digging his club into the fairway.
This time, the ball landed on the rough, far away from where he was aiming. Mitchell’s reaction made the commentators say “You’ve seen that before. Gosh, that is a wide miss! That is a good 50 yards to the right of where he was aiming,” as they justified his frustration.
Keith Mitchell club smash
(Via: @S_HennesseyGD)
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) March 13, 2025
But the fans weren’t too kind to Keith Mitchell’s on-course antics. As the video was tweeted by NUCLR Golf with the caption “Keith Mitchell club smash ”, the fans shared their own frustration about Mitchell’s misconduct.
Keith Mitchell’s rebel streak continues
Keith Mitchell just doesn’t like playing at TPC Sawgrass it seems. He has always had a difficult time on the course. As one fan pointed out, “TPC Sawgrass just brings it out of him.” Considering his record on the course, we don’t doubt it one bit. In the seven attempts at THE PLAYERS Championship, Mitchell has only managed one top-25 finish in 2022. Interestingly, despite the bizarre scene in 2023, he had his second best finish during that season.
Another fan added, “It’s too early to be that mad playing golf .” Frankly, if Mitchell is this frustrated in the second hole of the first round, we wonder how destructive he might get for the rest of the tournament. The greenskeepers must be anxiously watching his every move.
“If you haven’t smashed or broken a golf club, have you really ever even played the game?”, said another fan as they found Mitchell’s actions relatable. But we can assume that the PGA Tour pro was not trying to connect with his fans by destroying his 3-wood. Hopefully, he hasn’t damaged it too much to make it unplayable for the remaining 16 holes.
One sarcastic comment read “So what you are saying is my $10 bet for him to win isn’t looking good.” Judging by the way Mitchell is playing at the moment, we would consider the $10 bet wasted. But you never know, the bad shot might inspire him to go on a wild winning run.
The sarcasm didn’t end there as there was another fan who said “More fidgeting and waggling may help. (It won’t).” It seems that Keith Mitchell’s approach towards a shot has also been questioned by the community. No, they were not talking about AimPoint. Mitchell just takes a moment to set himself before driving the ball. Not that he is disrupting the pace of play in any way.
Having said that, do you think Keith Mitchell should be penalized heavily for his repeated misconduct? Share your views in the comments section.
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