Hyde: From nobody to somebody with a 15-foot putt for Keith Mitchell at The Honda Classic | Commentary

It was every last-second shot in basketball, every bottom-of-the-ninth swing in baseball, every Hail Mary pass for the win in football you take in your dreams as a kid.

“Everybody dreams about having that put on the 18th hole to win a tournament,” Keith Mitchell said. “I had that putt [Sunday].”

Fifteen feet. Slightly uphill with a break. Sink it and Mitchell wins The Honda Classic. Miss it and he remains the nobody he’d been right to this moment.

Mitchell, in fact, showed a text he’d received to his caddy, Pete Persolja, in the moments before teeing off in Sunday’s final round. It came from a friend in Tennessee. It was a quote from a TV commentator saying the lesser names near the lead wouldn’t be there at the finish.

The other player in the tie was Rickie Fowler. He’s won five tour events, has come within a few shots of winning multiple majors and has been a popular commodity on the tour since named rookie of the year in 2012.