ORLANDO, FLORIDA | The beauty of the PGA Tour’s new designated events, a slam-dunk success through four captivating chapters, isn’t just what they have done for the game’s biggest stars.
Consider what Kurt Kitayama, until Sunday the 46th-ranked player in the world with a growing collection of near-miss moments on his résumé, achieved by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational at big, bad Bay Hill.
Not only did Kitayama win for the first time on the PGA Tour despite hitting two tee shots out of bounds on the weekend, he was the last man standing atop a leaderboard that featured four recent PGA Tour players of the year, including reigning POY Scottie Scheffler, who was trying to win at Bay Hill for the second straight year.
Among them, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Harris English, Patrick Cantlay, Tyrrell Hatton and Scheffler – each of whom had a legitimate chance to win with two holes remaining – have 54 PGA Tour victories.
Kitayama, by comparison, has chased success on 10 pro tours by his count.
“You can’t ignore it,” Kitayama said, wearing the champion’s red cardigan that honors the late Palmer. “You have to know where you are and you know who’s there and just embrace the whole situation.”
It was Kitayama who center-cut a 13½-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th hole when the hole seemed to be playing hide and seek with every other challenger, giving himself the one stroke of separation no one else could muster.
With the tournament hanging in the balance, McIlroy missed a 10½-footer at 18. Spieth bogeyed three of his last five holes. English needed 14 holes to make his first birdie. Hatton bogeyed 17. Scheffler bogeyed 18.
Kitayama followed a potentially devastating triple bogey at the par-4 ninth by making seven straight pars until his deuce at the dangerous 17th, set up by a 6-iron tee shot that ultimately decided the issue. Kitayama signed for a par-72 and 9-under 272 total, one stroke better than McIlroy and English.
"I didn’t feel out of place. ... (Caddie Tim Tucker) backed me up and said, ‘You look fine.’ That helped.”
Kurt Kitayama
The long walk from the ninth green to the 10th tee could have been torturous for Kitayama, who went from two ahead to one behind, but he avoided the potential self-loathing, talking through what had happened with caddie Tim Tucker, who was on the bag at Bay Hill for Bryson DeChambeau when he won two years ago.
“I just told (Tucker) … that I still felt comfortable,” said Kitayama, who jumped to No. 19 in the world. “I didn’t feel out of place. It was just one bad swing. He backed me up and said, ‘You look fine.’ That helped.”
Kitayama, a 30-year-old Californian, was nicknamed “The Project” at UNLV because he trailed his teammates in golf accomplishments. Since turning pro in 2015, he has won twice on the DP World Tour before advancing from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour in late 2021. Kitayama earned $3.6 million from the $20 million purse.
Kitayama, English and Davis Riley, who tied for eighth, qualified for the Open Championship via the Open Qualifying Series.
Bay Hill lived up to its fiery reputation, forcing players to deal with crusty greens on the weekend, putting them on the defensive.“I love this style of golf,” English said. “It's really difficult. You have got to play chess out here and pick your spots to be aggressive. Man, it was a lot of fun. I love playing in U.S. Opens, and this is as close to a U.S. Open setup as we play on the PGA Tour.”
Ron Green Jr.