Bunker shots have always been a pain for golfers. So when it came to the nightmare "fried egg" lie, this golfer bypassed the standard splash shot for a bizarre, twisted grip that left the commentators in total shock.

Currently at T66 on the 2026 Sony Open, Keith Mitchell was faced with an unusual plugged bunker lie on the 15th hole during the third round. Mitchell went on to deploy a shot that made the commentators exclaim, “Did you see that?”

Inside the bunker, Mitchell deliberately turned his club and attempted the strike. And it felt like he blurred the lines between creativity and desperation. But it wasn’t entirely a new thing. 

Reacting to his partner’s exclamation, another commentator admitted, “I’ve never attempted that in my life. I’ve heard of it before, but I’ve never seen someone try that. It’s a time and a place.” 

But then came the zoomed-in replay, which confused them to a greater extent. The one question that revolved around the picture was why Keith Mitchell held the club with a twist.

On top of that, he seemed extremely confident in doing so. The first shot got him closer to the edge of the bunker, but he was still in it. And in the next one, he sent the ball close to the 15th hole. 

“I don’t know what to tell you. I have no clue what he was trying to do there,” the commentator confessed. 

However, Mitchell’s unusual shot has been discussed quite a bit on social media by golf gurus. And the famed golf instructor, Ron del Barrio, is one of them. 

The Science Behind Keith Mitchell’s Unusual Bunker Shot at Sony Open

In one of his videos on Instagram, del Barrio dropped a ball on the sand. And talking about the fried egg, he claimed that he cringed when he saw professionals taking “driver-size swings” to get the little ball out of the sand. But he had a technique that could help the golfers around the bunkers. 

“So, the science behind the fried egg is have the toe entering the sand first, instead of the leading edge,” del Barrio demonstrated. “When the toe enters the sand, it throws sand in front of the ball, which takes off the spin and gives it elevation.” 

And this particular shot even works in wet sand with a limp in front!

Mitchell’s creativity turned confusion into conversation across the golf world. Whether desperation or design, the shot proved unconventional ideas still have a place on tour.

Written by

Krushna Pattnaik

Edited by

Oajaswini Prabhu