News >> Mitchell Earns First Pro win

The Texas Honing Open
Golfcrest Country Club
July 8-11, 2010
 
Pearland, TX (July, 2010)… Daniel Mitchell of Edmond, Oklahoma posted a two-over par 74 at Golfcrest Country Club in the final round of The Texas Honing Open to capture his first career professional win.
 
Mitchell began the final round Sunday afternoon with a two stroke lead after posting a six-under par 66 in the third round early Sunday morning. Tour officials were forced to make Sunday a thirty-six hole finish due to torrential rains that forced the first round to be suspended until Friday morning.
 
After a near flawless third round, Mitchell quickly ran into trouble on his first hole in the final round. The twenty-five year old found the par 5 green in regulation but took a disappointing double bogey seven after four putting the opening green. He added two more bogies on the front nine to go out in four over par 40.
 
“I had taken some time off from golf and went back to school to get my degree and then spent some time in the offseason working on my putting because it was the weakest part of my game,” said an exhausted Mitchell after the round. “The key to my win today was my putting but it sort of let me down in the final round today on three holes with a four putt and two three putts.”
 
While Mitchell was struggling on Sunday, Plainville, Massachusetts’s Jim Renner was quietly making a run up the leader board. Renner posted a five-under par 67 in the morning round and then turned in a three-under par 69 in the afternoon to grab the clubhouse lead at eleven-under par 277.
 
Renner, who was Mitchell’s teammate at Oklahoma for a season, had to sit and wait while Mitchell began righting the ship that had been leaking over the front nine.
 
Mitchell added birdies on holes twelve and fifteen to get back to twelve-under par for the tournament before another bogey dropped him back into a tie with Renner at eleven-under with one hole remaining. Coming into the final hole lady luck seemed to have left the former Sooner as his drive landed just off the fairway on the hardpan.
 
“I actually wasn’t too upset with my situation because I grew up practicing with my dad hitting wedges off of the hardpan at my home course and I felt comfortable hitting my wedge but I wasn’t expecting what happened next.”
 
After blading his wedge thin, Mitchell’s ball flew short and hit ten feet short of the hazard in front the eighteenth green but instead of going into the hazard his ball skipped up and rolled twenty feet past the hole.
 
“Standing over the putt I felt like I had found the straightest part of the green and I just wanted to get my speed right because I knew if I missed, it could roll of the front of the green. I made a good stroke at it and after about eight feet it took the right line and just dropped in the hole.”
 
For the week, Mitchell posted rounds of 69-67-66-74 for a four day total of twelve-under par 276 and a first place check worth $30,000, while Renner took home $15,934 for his first runner-up finish of the season.
 
Houston’s Brian Rowell headed up the local contingent in The Texas Honing Open after he finished third following a four day total of nine-under par 279, while Randy Lowry (Houston) finished T-6 after posting a four day total of 281. Other local players included Matt Boyd (284), Robert Gwin (284), Scott McVarish (296) and Murdoch McEwan (299).
 
Although he didn’t play in the Texas Honing Open because he was in the Nationwide Tour event in Canada this week, Matt Harmon continues to hold onto first place in the Race For The PHS Wichita Open Nationwide Exemption. The Race For The PHS Wichita Open Exemption will be given to the NGA Hooters Tour member that accumulates the most money in the Bentonville, Arkansas, Miami, Oklahoma, Pearland, Texas and Victoria, Texas events. With three events complete Harmon has earned $31,523 and leads second place golfer Mike Lavery by only $350.
 
The NGA Hooters Tour heads south to Victoria, Texas for next week’s Victoria Texas Open presented by Jim and Carol West. Action begins Monday July 12 and concludes on Sunday July 18.
 
HOOTS: The NGA Hooters Tour would like to thank Director of Golf Mike Colling, Tournament Director Allan Findlay, and superintendant Carter Hines for a great week in Pearland, Texas. The adage things are bigger in Texas was proven true this week as your hospitality to our players and tour staff was some of the best of the season.