Kurt Kitayama rallied after two OB tee photographs this weekend.
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Kurt Kitayama knew straight away Saturday. His tee shot on No. 4 was no good.
He to save lots of the swing, pushed his membership left on the follow-through, however the injury was finished. Immediately his hand got here off the membership. He barely even watched as his golf ball sailed proper and stored going farther proper, over the boundary fence.
He walked over to caddie Tim Tucker for an additional ball.
Kitayama was within the lead by himself in one of many PGA Tour’s largest occasions, however he most likely wasn’t supposed to win this week on the Arnold Palmer Invitational. That’s no slight on Kitayama, who was twice a runner-up in his rookie season a yr in the past and completed the season forty first within the FedEx Cup. He additionally picked up two DP World Tour wins earlier than incomes his PGA Tour card by the use of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals.
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However, the chasers to begin the weekend at Bay Hill included stars like Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas and Matt Fitzpatrick. By the top of Saturday, the record would develop to incorporate Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton.
Through the primary three of the PGA Tour’s Designated occasions, the winners’ record consists of simply Scheffler and Jon Rahm, the final two occasions, transferring the victor to World No. 1.
A vital misfire on an in any other case gettable par-5 might have simply led a professional, with little expertise profitable tournaments on the highest degree, to start to crumble and wilt below the stress.
Instead, you most likely understand how the week ended for Kitayama by now.
Back to No. 4 within the third spherical, or his provisional — now his third shot — he geared again with a 3-wood. He mentioned he tried to place the block out the horrible swing he simply made.
“That’s why I went to the 3-wood next shot,” Kitayama mentioned Saturday. “Just to try to forget about it, not think about it, really. Just kind of like— it got away from me. So just an uncomfortable thing.”
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He ended up with double on the outlet, the one one of many day on 4, and made one other bogey on 9. He seemed like he was wilting. But the seems have been deceiving.
“There’s no giving up,” he mentioned. “It’s just kind of in my nature, I feel like. Even when it’s going bad, you can’t just like pack it in. You fight for every shot.”
He rallied with 4 birdies on the again 9, together with one on 18 to shoot even and convert his 36-hole result in a 54-hole one.
But then got here Sunday, and it occurred once more.
This time, Kitayama already had his spherical rolling. Three birdies had him to 11-under and he opened up a two-shot lead after a robust up-and-down on the brutal par-4 eighth.
But on 9, the California native knew it once more instantly on the tee.
“Fore left!”
He smothered his tee shot and It crossed the cart path left of the green and ended up about six inches left of it.
Kitayama didn’t discover out for positive till after hitting his provisional and strolling as much as his first tee shot that the trail was the out-of-bounds line. Another one OB.
He walked away to his provisional, leaving his first ball behind.
Unlike Saturday nonetheless, his third ball wasn’t in superb form. It was within the left fairway bunker, pinned up in opposition to the best facet lip. His try from 206 yards hit the lip and traveled simply 130 yards and settled within the tough 82 yards from the outlet.
He made 7, once more, however on the par-4 ninth, that meant triple and his two-shot lead grew to become a one-shot deficit.
After he putted out, he had an extended stroll from the inexperienced to the tenth tee. That’s when he went to his bagman, Tucker.
“I was putting for triple, and I just told him, I just wanted to let him know how I felt. I still felt comfortable,” Kitayama mentioned Sunday. “I didn’t feel out of place. It was just one bad swing. He kind of backed me up. He said that I know, you look fine. And that helped.”
And the event didn’t get away from him. While there was loads of star energy up and down the leaderboard, nobody pulled forward.
Jordan Spieth briefly received to 10-under however sputtered to a few bogeys in his final 5 holes. Rory McIlroy had it to nine-under, however then instantly backed up with back-to-back bogeys. Tyrrell Hatton did the identical.
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By the time Kitayama made it to the quick par-5 sixteenth, the lead had fallen again to him in a logjam at eight-under. He was working a streak of six pars in a row. He knew who he was battling.
“Going into the day you know who is near the top and you just pay attention the whole day,” he mentioned. “You can’t ignore it. You got to know where you’re at and you know who is there and just embrace the whole situation.”
His drive was good: 310, down the best facet of the green, leaving simply 190 for his method. His second discovered the middle of the inexperienced giving him an uphill 56-footer for eagle and an opportunity to tug away.
He rammed it 10 toes by and missed the comebacker for birdie. The alternative was wasted and now he needed to cope with the tough ending holes at Bay Hill.
“It was just a hard putt,” he mentioned. “I gave myself a good run at it on the second one. But, I don’t know, at that point, there’s nothing you can do. You see the leaderboard, you know you’re still right there in it, and just focus on the next shot.”
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Again, he might have light into submission, however as an alternative, he knocked it to 14 toes from 217 yards on 17, made the putt after which practically rolled in a 47-foot birdie putt on 18 for the exclamation level on a one-shot win after the faucet in.
Multiple occasions all through the week Kitayama handled poor swings, unhealthy breaks or missed alternatives, however his demeanor by no means modified and it paid off along with his first PGA Tour victory. He now strikes as much as No. 19 on the earth, a career-high.
“I mean, you’re in an uncomfortable situation and whether it’s on the golf course or off, you just got to deal with it,” Kitayama mentioned. “The pulse is going pretty good still. But just from what I’ve learned in the past few years and being in these situations. I’ve been able to control how I feel a lot better. Especially when it’s coming down 18 like that or hitting a tee ball out of bounds. You just got to let it go. I mean, on 9 today I felt like I did a really good job doing that.”
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