LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Georgia All-American Keith Mitchell, who led the Southern Amateur after two rounds, plummeted down the leaderboard on Friday after shooting 80 at Chenal Country Club.
Mitchell, who played high school golf at Chattanooga Baylor, was 8-under par for the tournament after a pair of 68s on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was a different story. Mitchell bogeyed his first three holes, then made double-bogeys at the par-3 fourth hole and the par-5 fifth. He shot 43 on the front.
Mitchell regrouped a bit on the back, starting out with a birdie at No. 10, a short par-5, but two more bogeys left him with a 37 for his 80 that dropped him all the way into a tie for 16th heading into Saturday’s final round.
Two players are tied for the lead — Peter Williamson, who just finished his collegiate career at Dartmouth, and Bobby Wyatt, a junior at Alabama. Both shot third-round 70s and are 7-under for the tournament.
Chattanooga senior Steven Fox is tied for 58th place after a third-round 73. Fox opened with an 80 but regrouped with a second-round 69. Friday’s 73 featured three birdies but also included four bogeys, three of them on his back nine (he started on No. 10).
Fox was 1-under for the day heading to his final nine holes and quickly got to 2-under with a birdie at the par-4 third. But he bogeyed Nos. 4, 6, and 9 coming in to close with his 73.