Former UGA golfer Keith Mitchell has practice round set with Masters marker Jeff Knox

As the congratulatory texts were multiplying on his phone after winning the Honda Classic and earning a spot in this year’s Masters Tournament, Keith Mitchell kept looking for one in particular.

When it arrived, he responded immediately.

“I texted him back saying ‘this is the text I’ve been waiting for forever - for that practice round,’” he wrote.

The text was from Augusta National Golf Club member Jeff Knox, who knew the 27-year-old Mitchell through Jeff’s son, Lee.

Jeff Knox had often texted Mitchell saying that they would play a practice round at Augusta National to prepare for the Masters if he ever qualified. His first PGA Tour win March 3 - was his ticket to Augusta.

Knox is the club’s marker when the cut leaves an odd number of playersin the Masters field, which has happened the past eight years. He also is the club champion and holds the course record from the members tees (61 in 2003), in part because he is a great putter.

Mitchell met Jeff Knox’s son, Lee, when he was 9 years old and they were attending a University of Georgia golf camp. Mitchell eventually went to Georgia to play golf and Knox chose Alabama. But they kept in touch.

“I was in his wedding; he’s been one of my great friends,” Mitchell said.

Lee Knox, who lives in Augusta, had always told Mitchell that if he did qualify for the Masters, he wouldn’t have to worry about accommodations.

“After I won, Lee said ‘we’ve got you a house already,’ ” said Mitchell.

For Mitchell, who turned pro in 2014 and played the Latinoamerica Tour in 2015 and the Web.com Tour in 2016, the Masters will be his first major championship.

“I’ve always dreamed of playing there (in the Masters),” he said. “I’ve seen it (the course), played it. That week is going to be hard to focus on playing it instead of just soaking it in.”

The perks that came from winning the Honda include a two and a half year exemption on the PGA Tour, a spot in the Masters, the PGA Championship in May, the 2020 Tournament of Champions and a $1,224,000 first-place check.

Mitchell won the Honda by sinking a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole to edge 2018 PGA Tour Player of the Year Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler by a shot.

“That’s so cool to think about all the doors that have been opened for me after winning.” Mitchell said. “But the best thing about winning was the feeling from the time that putt went in the hole and the time I got it out of the hole. Like that 15, 20 seconds, is the feeling that every single player on the PGA Tour is out here for.”

Mitchell is the eighth former Georgia player currently on the PGA Tour with a tour victory. The others are two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, Chris Kirk, Russell Henley, Brian Harman, Harris English, Kevin Kisner and Hudson Swafford.

“It’s pretty incredible to see how many guys from Georgia have won,” Mitchell said. “To have my name up there is something you’ve always thought about but you never really knew it was going to be a reality. It’s officially a reality.”

He will also have his picture placed with all the other Bulldogs who won on the PGA Tour on a wall of fame in the Boyd Golf Center, which is at the University of Georgia Golf Course.

“I can’t wait to get back for a football game and see it there at the same time,” Mitchell said.

He said the transition from college to pro golf was made easier because of the way coach Chris Haack runs Georgia’s golf team. Every player must go through qualifying for each tournament, regardless of their accomplishments.

“Once I turned pro and you’re out here playing for yourself and nobody else and you’ve got to pay off your credit card bills and it costs a lot of money to do it, it makes you realize, you really got to want to do this, you really got to want to play,” Mitchell said. “Luckily at Georgia that was kind of our mentality that we had qualify every week, and it just made you a better player.

“That’s why there’s so many guys out here that went to Georgia because nobody ever held our hand, nobody ever made us practice, nobody ever gave us lessons on the range,” he said. “I mean, you were out there and you had to prove yourself from day one and the only way you could prove yourself was scores on the golf course. They never picked a team, none of that. So I’m thankful for Georgia in that way, because it really made me grow up fast, and it really - it taught me a lot when I turned pro.”

That learning curve continued when Mitchell, who is from Chattanooga, Tenn., decided to move to Sea Island, Ga. It’s where a group of PGA Tour players have moved, joining longtime resident and 20-time PGA Tour winner Davis Love III, who the younger golfers call “Uncle Davis.” The golfers to move to Sea Island include two-time major champion Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Jonathan Byrd and former Georgia golfers Harris English, Hudson Swafford and Brian Harman.

“Davis has been great,” Mitchell said. “Davis has always been a big father figure for a lot of us.”

Love wasn’t surprised to see Mitchell win at the Honda, even after he made bogeys on the first two holes of the final round.

“He’s been close and gotten in the hunt a few times,” Love said. “I hated what happened the first couple of holes but he hung in there. He’s a good, solid player. He can win anytime. I like how far he hits it and how good he hits it. He’s very confident and aggressive. He’s got all the tools.”

“I think Davis started that whole kind of vibe at Sea Island and everybody else has bought into it,” Mitchell said. “Brian Harman always gives me a hard time because he is like, ‘dude, you got all this game and all this talent, like what are you doing?’ Like, come on. And he gives me a kick in the butt to start playing better.”

English, who is two years older than Mitchell, has been a huge influence.

“He’s a guy who I went to high school with and then went to Georgia with and then went to Sea Island with; he’s been part of my life since I’ve been 12 years old,” Mitchell said. “He’s helped me in golf every step of the way because he’s always been one step ahead of me. He won a state title before I did, he won at Georgia before I did, he won on the PGA Tour before I did.

“So he’s always one step ahead and so it’s so easy to learn from a guy like that who’s done everything that you’re trying to did,” Mitchell said. “And that’s the main reason I went to Sea Island is because when you surround yourself with people better than yourself then there’s no way you are not going to get better.”