Kurt Kitayama

Tim Tucker carried the now-LIV golfer's bag for eight PGA Tour wins, then briefly left. At Bay Hill, he led a first-time winner through a pressure-filled ...

Kurt Kitayama shot a final-round 72 to beat Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and others for his first PGA Tour win.

He marked and then tapped in for his second straight 72 of the weekend. But for the third time in three holes, the three-time major winner failed to convert from short range and settled for par. [Rory McIlroy](https://golf.com/news/what-rory-mcilroy-lacking-jack-nicklaus/) made a Sunday charge but just fell short when his 10-foot birdie putt on 18 just slid low. Spieth meanwhile looked to take control of the tournament when he hit his third on the par-5 16th to inside six feet. Scottie Scheffler also had a chance to defend his title from a year ago, heading into the final holes part of a logjam at eight-under that included Kitayama, McIlroy, English, Tyrrell Hatton and Jordan Spieth. He rallied with two birdies against no bogeys on the inward side to win the

Facing a leaderboard full of top-ranked tour pros, the 30-year-old California native wound up the last man standing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

He then played on the Korn Ferry Tour, his performance pushing him to the PGA Tour in 2021. I’m anxious to see what he can do the rest of this year.” “You travel to every different country, dealing with logistics, food, the culture, language,” he said. Kitayama is the first to acknowledge just how raw a player he was not that long ago. It was a full circle moment when four-time major winner McIlroy stayed around to congratulate the California native Sunday. Now he was a PGA Tour winner in his 50th tour start and has jumped from 46 to 19 in the Official World Golf Ranking. “I’m lucky enough to have it at a very special place.” But Kitayama’s caddie, Tim Tucker, who worked for Bryson DeChambeau when he won at Bay Hill in 2021, gave his boss a pep talk en route to the 10th tee. In his pro career, he had competed on 10 tours around the world before earning a PGA Tour card. As the birdie try rolled toward the hole, 2019 Bay Hill champion McIlroy leaned forward to the TV. The Northern Irishman could have gone to the practice range to hit balls, anticipating a playoff. McIlroy had finished his 72 holes at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at eight under par, one shot back of Kitayama as the leader played Bay Hill’s famous par-4 18th.

Kurt Kitayama made seven on the ninth hole Sunday after hitting a tee shot OB. Just like the day before, he didn't let it phase him.

You got to know where you’re at and you know who is there and just embrace the whole situation.” His second found the center of the green giving him an uphill 56-footer for eagle and a chance to pull away. He rammed it 10 feet by and missed the comebacker for birdie. “It was just a hard putt,” he said. “Going into the day you know who is near the top and you just pay attention the whole day,” he said. He knew who he was battling. That’s when he went to his bagman, Tucker. “That’s why I went to the 3-wood next shot,” Kitayama said Saturday. He looked like he was wilting. He also picked up two DP World Tour wins before earning his PGA Tour card by way of the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. 4 in the third round, or his provisional — now his third shot — he geared back with a 3-wood. He barely even watched as his golf ball sailed right and kept going farther right, over the boundary fence.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Kurt Kitayama let an All-Star cast of contenders back into the tournament with a triple bogey, only to beat them all with a clutch birdie ...

His only thought was to “just get it on the green, just give myself an opportunity.” Rahm, meanwhile, finished in a tie for 39th -- his first time outside the top 10 since the TOUR Championship last August. McIlroy tried a bold play on the par-3 14th without knowing he was right in the mix, the start of a bogey-bogey stretch that set him back. Instead, his ball spun back into the rough on the 18th and he finished with a bogey. Rory McIlroy roared into the mix with four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn, only to miss a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole for the lead. Jordan Spieth was among six players who had at least a share of the lead over the final two hours.

Kurt Kitayama let an All-Star cast of contenders back into the tournament with a triple-bogey, only to beat them all with a clutch birdie and the best lag ...

It was great to be involved with," he said. The exception is Kitayama, who groomed himself for a moment like this with so many close calls against players with polished pedigrees. "But it was a great back nine. "I wish I played a little bit better, but at the end of the day I put up a good fight," Scheffler said. I just fought back hard, and I'm proud of myself for that." "It's hard because the lead was changing hands with guys making bogeys, not really making birdies. Spieth was among six players who had at least a share of the lead over the final two hours. Instead, his ball spun back into the rough, his chip came out weakly and he finished with a bogey for a 73. He missed four straight putts inside 8 feet from the 14th through the 17th holes -- three of them for par. "All of a sudden, I'm not leading any more. "I think just a little bit of luck finally went my way," Kitayama said. Needing two putts to win, the first one stopped an inch from the cup.

After playing the first eight holes in two under and opening up his lead, Kitayama badly pulled his tee shot at No. 9 and got the most brutal break you'll see ...

On the 18th, after hitting his tee shot into the left rough, he found the green with his approach and made the par to pull out the victory. Despite the triple, and despite the fact it was the second straight day he hit a tee shot out of bounds and made a 7, he somehow went back into a tie for the lead, then drained a birdie putt on the 17th hole jump on top all by himself again. A ball has to be completely outside the out of bounds boundary to be deemed out of bounds.

A PGA Tour designated event delivered once again, this time at Bay Hill Club and Lodge. Fourteen players were within three shots of the lead down the ...

was on the putting green earlier and he said, ‘You know, just relax and just make sure to take some deep breaths and walk slow.’ So I thought of that and I was able to recognize it, luckily, and just kind of calm down.” And if I had of known that, I wouldn’t have tried to play the shot that I played on 14, which was unfortunate,” said McIlroy, who shot 70 and missed a 10-foot birdie putt that could have forced a playoff. But the last of the bunch was a three-putt from 56 feet at the par-5 16th. 1 and defend his second title of the season. 12 and 13 to take the lead at 9 under. He took just 12 putts in his first 11 holes but down the stretch he couldn’t get them to drop. “I wouldn’t have hit any of the putts differently. So I think just as a person I was able to grow.” Asked to name the strength of Kitayama’s game, Schauffele said, “He hits it a mile. 1 at the time, at the CJ Cup. But on the ninth hole, he tugged his tee shot left and it stopped out of bounds by six inches, leading to a triple bogey. “I don’t think he was very good at anything,” said J.C.

Kitayama emerged victorious at Bay Hill despite a rollercoaster final round of PGA Tour superstars breathing down his neck.

Kurt Kitayama brushed off a triple bogey and held off a stacked leaderboard at the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational for his first PGA Tour victory.

[TaylorMade P7MC](https://golf-galaxy.selw.net/7mWkmr); (7-PW): [TaylorMade P7MB](https://golf-galaxy.selw.net/mgDVgq) 3 and a 46-foot bomb for birdie at the par-3 seventh. [TaylorMade Stealth 2](https://golf-galaxy.selw.net/ZdeYZg), 16.5 degrees P•7MCs are forged from 1025 carbon steel and are the company’s most-played iron on tour. A number of players rode the proverbial roller-coaster Sunday at Bay Hill, and Kitayama was among them, making three birdies but also a bogey on the par-5 fourth hole and a triple-bogey 7 at the ninth when his tee shot came to rest inches out of bounds. Pars from 10 through 16, however, actually saw Kitayama make up ground, then a flushed his tee shot at the 217-yard par-3 17th came to rest just inside 14 feet to set up a birdie that allowed him to retake the solo lead.

But Kitayama, thanks to a clutch birdie at the 17th and a wild lag-putt at the last, is now a winner on the PGA Tour. Kitayama weaved through a crowded ...

Kitayama took down a stacked leaderboard to nearly double his career earnings on Sunday at Bay Hill.

It was a brutal finish for Spieth as he missed numerous short-range putts including ones on 16-17. [@PGATOURComms]…if Kitayama gets in via subsequent criteria (almost certainly OWGR top 50 cutoff), they will retroactively go back to API leaderboard for last spot. Rahm finished next to last in the field in driving and didn't sniff the title even though he putted it well above average on the week. With a wedge in hand, the Texan ultimately missed the green when a birdie would have given him the outright lead and a par would have tied him with McIlroy and English in the clubhouse. The frustrating part for him was that he lost over a stroke to the field with his putter (thus the nickname)." He led for a while on the back nine, but the putter -- his nemesis for a while now -- hurt him late and he faded to finish just beyond the leaders. Now he goes to The Players Championship with some juice as he is once again hurtling toward the Masters with momentum and supreme confidence in his game. The vast majority of the time, the Kitayamas and Taylors of the world fall short to the McIlroys and Schefflers. Kitayama's career earnings of $4.1 million will nearly double as he adds the $3.6 million top prize from winning at Bay Hill. Their efforts ultimately fell short when Kitayama connected from just outside 13 feet on the par-3 17th, jumping into the solo lead with his first birdie of the back nine. Two more birdies on his outward half put him in control before a wayward tee shot fell out of bounds on the par-4 9th resulting in a triple bogey. A rollercoaster affair Sunday at Bay Hill culminated with the perhaps the most unsteady of the bunch, Kurt Kitayama, donning the red cardigan as winner of the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Kurt Kitayama finished strong at the Arnold Palmer Invitational to emerge from a packed leaderboard for his first PGA Tour victory.

A two-putt at one of the most famous greens in golf was all that stood between Kitayama and glory, and he nearly did one better. His tee shot found deep rough up the left side of the famous closing hole. He proceeded to hit one of the best shots of his life, leaving himself just inside 14 feet for the go-ahead birdie.

Star power littered the leaderboard at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, and as the dust settled on a chaotic Sunday afternoon, perhaps a ...

Yes, yes, we get it. Kurt Kitayama isn't a star, but the (now) one-time PGA Tour winner took down the behemoths to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational on ...

legends living up to the moment. There was so much enthusiasm in it that it forced his right foot to pop up in order to control the energy. Kurt Kitayama isn’t a star, but the (now) one-time PGA Tour winner took down the behemoths to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday.

Kurt Kitayama fended off a pack of challengers that included Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler on Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. As a result, his ...

Gary Van Sickle was on site last week at Bay Hill and took in all things Arnie, along with a newsy week in the world of golf.