Keith Mitchell looked headed for disaster when the 126th U.S. Open began Thursday at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. By the time he signed his scorecard, he had produced one of the most remarkable turnarounds in tournament history.
Mitchell’s opening shot of the championship set the tone for a miserable start. His tee shot on the back-nine opening hole hooked into the rough, and it took him four more strokes to reach the green. The result was a double bogey 6. Things continued to unravel from there. Bogeys followed on holes 11, 13, 14, and 16, leaving him with a staggering 6-over-par 41 through his first nine holes.
At that point, few could have imagined what was coming next.
A Round on the Brink
The opening nine holes suggested Mitchell was headed toward an early exit from contention. Shinnecock Hills has a long reputation for punishing mistakes, and Mitchell appeared to be experiencing exactly that. Every attempt to regain momentum seemed to be met with another setback.
Yet despite the rough beginning, the round was far from over. After making the turn, Mitchell suddenly found the rhythm that had completely eluded him on the back nine.
The Stunning Front-Nine Charge
Mitchell birdied three of the first four holes on the front side, immediately erasing much of the damage from his difficult start. The momentum continued to build as he reached the par-5 fifth hole.
There, Mitchell launched a 358-yard drive down the fairway and followed it with an approach from 229 yards that settled just 13 feet from the cup. He converted the eagle putt to move even closer to an improbable recovery.
Several other key shots fueled the comeback. On the par-4 first hole, Mitchell drove the ball 339 yards and left himself just 51 yards from the green before making a 12-foot birdie putt. On the third hole, after another massive drive, he knocked his approach to within 3½ feet and converted for birdie. A 10½-foot birdie putt on the fourth kept the charge rolling before the eagle at the fifth provided the biggest spark.
Mitchell added another birdie on the ninth hole, draining an 8½-foot putt to complete a breathtaking 6-under-par 29 on the front nine.
A Place in U.S. Open History
The remarkable finish earned Mitchell a place in the championship record book. He became the first golfer ever to shoot 29 on the front nine at Shinnecock Hills. According to reports, it was only the seventh nine-hole score of 29 in U.S. Open history. Neal Lancaster previously posted a 29 on the back nine during the final round of the 1995 U.S. Open.
The round also produced another historic distinction. Mitchell became the first player in the 126-year history of the U.S. Open to shoot 40 or higher on one nine and under 30 on the other during the same round.
By the end of the day, Mitchell’s astonishing reversal had transformed what appeared to be a collapsing round into an even-par 70. Instead of falling completely out of contention, he finished just two shots behind early clubhouse leader Sam Stevens and delivered one of the most memorable nine-hole stretches the U.S. Open has ever seen.
