Q. Keith, you were 2-over through 5 yesterday, circled the wagons and no bogeys since then. What were you able to do to flip a switch and put yourself into the mix for the weekend?
KEITH MITCHELL: I flipped my hands on my grip. I started the day yesterday left-hand low for the first five holes and hit zero good putts through five holes, so I said, that's enough. Went back to my original conventional grip and was 10-under since then. It's that simple.
Q. You did that literally on hole 6?
KEITH MITCHELL: Yeah, I putted the first five holes left-hand low and then I hit zero good putts, and I was like, this is not working, so I went back to my normal grip on 6. Literally on 6 green.
Q. How long had you done left-hand low for?
KEITH MITCHELL: Exactly three days and five holes.
Q. What made you decide to try that?
KEITH MITCHELL: I didn't putt great at Pebble and felt like maybe I could just try to find something magic in a bottle somewhere and maybe left-hand low would be the trick, and it was clearly not the trick. It was worth a shot.
Q. Had you done something like that before?
KEITH MITCHELL: Not mid-round, no. I was desperate. I was not going to make the cut, let alone shoot under par if I continued to putt like I did those first five holes.
Q. Two birdies on 16 so far this week, but I'm curious about the flipside of that hole. Obviously when you birdie you get a lot of celebrations, that's great. Two years ago you had a few bogeys on that hole. What is it like when you're there getting booed by that crowd and maybe struggling through a round and you don't want to be the center of attention and you're getting booed by people?
KEITH MITCHELL: I mean, I'm glad I made two birdies. Those fans are passionate on that hole, so giving them something that they want to root for is definitely the goal.
But if you do hit a bad shot you're not the only one that's going to be booed because it's kind of a sneaky hard hole, especially when the pin gets in the back on the left-hand side of the green.
Q. Is it nervy at all to change something that you haven't practiced --
KEITH MITCHELL: Yes. The answer is yes. Very. It showed up on the first five holes, how nervy it was.
Q. But then to change again -- since you had used it plenty, it kicked back in kind of?
KEITH MITCHELL: Yeah. No. 6 just felt normal. I was hoping that the left-hand low would spark something better than normal, and it did the opposite, made it worse. So I knew what I could do with just my conventional grip, and clearly putted great since then.
Q. Is there a lesson in that or is that too deep?
KEITH MITCHELL: Oh, man, there's got to be somewhere. Maybe you can help me get to the bottom of it. The only time I've won, I put a new putter in play that Monday and putted great. I was like, maybe if I put a new grip in play this week it'll do the same kind of magic, and no. Well, not for five holes.
Q. But you've been using the same putter?
KEITH MITCHELL: Oh, yeah, same putter. So maybe it's the putter. I don't know, if there was a reasoning for why people putted great every time, I think everyone on TOUR would do it. It's kind of just whatever works for you that day. I'm just going to stick with what I've been doing.
Q. Josh Allen, your Pebble Beach partner --
KEITH MITCHELL: Previous Pebble Beach partner. When his football is good, I can't play with him.
Q. So it's good when you can't play with him?
KEITH MITCHELL: Yeah, I don't ever want to play with him at Pebble Beach ever again.
Q. Until he retires.
KEITH MITCHELL: Fair enough.
Q. What's it mean for you knowing him to see him get that recognition as NFL MVP?
KEITH MITCHELL: Let's not forget sportsmanship, too. Has anybody ever won that, the sportsmanship award and the MVP in the same year? You need to look up that stat.
But it was well deserved on both ends. There's a lot of good players in the NFL, and just kind of how he carries his team and how his team respects him and the talent, I think it's well deserved. Hopefully he can work on his golf game a little bit in the next couple months and then maybe play a few rounds. But I hope to never see him again at Pebble Beach.
Q. What impresses you about how he carries himself as a pro, and is there anything from that that you've been able to pick up?
KEITH MITCHELL: I think his ability to compete while having fun at the same time is something that I would like to do better at.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports