PEARLAND, Texas – Former Oklahoma City University golfer Daniel Mitchell captured his first career professional victory in The Texas Honing Open on Sunday at Golfcrest Country Club.
Mitchell won the 2007 NAIA individual championship as a senior with the Stars. Mitchell fired a 69-67-66-74–276 to earn $30,000 in the Hooters Tour event.
Tour officials were forced to make Sunday a 36-hole finish due to torrential rains that forced the first round to be suspended until Friday morning.
Mitchell earned his degree in business from OCU this spring to fulfill a promise he made to his family.
“I had taken some time off from golf and went back to school to get my degree and then spent some time in the off-season working on my putting because it was the weakest part of my game,” an exhausted Mitchell said 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 4-putt and two 3-putts.”
Mitchell became a three-time NAIA all-American and posted six career victories as a Star. He holds OCU's career scoring average mark with a 70.65. Mitchell, who played his prep golf at Casady in Oklahoma City, told OCU coaches that he wanted to change his mental approach to playing and remember to enjoy golf.
With OCU, Mitchell played on two NAIA championship teams. The Stars have captured national crowns in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 and 2010.
“I'm glad he's been patient and stuck with it,” OCU coach Kyle Blaser said. “He was in contention every time out with us. He was one of the most dominant players we've ever had.”
Mitchell held off Jim Renner for the one-stroke victory. While Mitchell was struggling on Sunday, Renner quietly made a run up the leaderboard. Renner grabbed the clubhouse lead at 11-under-par 277. Renner sat and waited while Mitchell began righting the ship that had been leaking over the front nine.
Mitchell added birdies on holes 12 and 15 to get back to 12-under par for the tournament before another bogey dropped him back into a tie with Renner with one hole remaining. Coming into the final hole, Mitchell landed his drive 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,” Mitchell said.
After blading his wedge thin, Mitchell's ball flew short and hit 10 feet short of the hazard in front of the 18th green, but instead of going into the hazard his ball skipped up and rolled 20 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,” Mitchell said. “I made a good stroke at it and after about eight feet it took the right line and just dropped in the hole.”
Mitchell will tee it up next in The Victoria Texas Open on July 15-18 in Victoria, Texas.
Earlier this season, former four-time OCU all-American Anthony Michael won in the Zimbabwe Open on the Sunshine Tour. To read more about his win, click here.
