Pro, leading Tour event, still focused on college football

As he stood on the 16th tee, he asked a fan to give him some updates.

“Are you looking at football scores?” he asked.

“Oh yeah!” the fan replied.

“What do we got?”

“14-10 Dawgs,” the fan told him, giving him the good news that his beloved 5th-ranked Bulldogs were winning against the unranked Tigers.

Then Mitchell’s attention turned to the team that issued Georgia its first loss of the season last week in Tuscaloosa.

“What about the Bama score?” Mitchell asked.

“23-14 Commodores,” the fan replied, telling him of the shock of the college football world thus far that afternoon that No. 1 Alabama was losing to unranked Vanderbilt.

The Golf Channel camera was focused on Mitchell’s playing partner Jacob Bridgeman and his caddie, who looked shocked to hear Alabama was losing.

“Holy Cow!” someone said.

But Mitchell was still focused on his game.

“Auburn scored though? 14-10?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

If you thought any of this meant Mitchell was losing touch with his round, think again. The veteran drained a 37-foot bomb for birdie on 17 before stuffing his approach at No. 18 to inside seven feet for another one, giving him the solo lead at the Sanderson heading into the final round.

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.