PGA Tour: Arnold Palmer Invitational Leaderboard
In 2019, 30-year-old Kurt Kitayama became the fastest player to win twice on the DP World Tour with victories in Mauritius and Oman in his first 11 starts. That's when he first came to my attention, he'd been playing in the Australasian swing before flying up to Mauritius, the island nation 1100 miles off the SE continent of Africa,
From Chico, California he turned pro in 2015, spent 2017 on Web.com tour, 2018 Asian Tour. 2019 the DP World Tour after surviving 3 stages of Q School He made the PGA Tour 2021-22 and was runner up 3 times.
On Sunday his world tour hit the jackpot as he held off a stellar chasing pack to claim his maiden PGA TOUR title with a dramatic one-shot victory on his first appearance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida worth $3,600,000 and much more, including a 3 year exemption.
The 5'6" American recovered from a triple bogey at the ninth in the final round to card an even par72 to finish one stroke ahead of Rory McIlroy and fellow American Harris English ($1,780,000) on nine under par. His final winning putt was less than an inch away on the 72nd hole !
McIlroy missed a ten-foot birdie putt on the 18th green as he settled for a closing 70 which featured seven birdies and five bogeys to narrowly miss out on his second career victory at Bay Hill. His T2 worth $1,780,000.
Kitayama, who is the first player since 1990 to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational on his tournament debut, climbs from 46th to a career-high 19th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
“I've been dreaming of this for a while,” he said. “I've been close and to finally get it done feels amazing.”
McIlroy was bidding to reclaim top spot in the world rankings from Jon Rahm with a victory and appeared on track to do so when he made it three birdies in four holes at the 13th to hold a one-shot lead.
The four-time Major Championship winner made bogeys at the 14th and 15th, before recovering one of those dropped shots on the 16th but he could only manage par on the final two holes.
"It's disappointing," said McIlroy.
"I felt like I gave myself a great chance after a birdie on the 13th and then to play the final five holes in one over par, with this jam-packed leaderboard, isn't really going to get it done.
"It was a battle all day. I felt like I hung in there really well and just came up one short in the end."
Tyrrell Hatton, a winner of this event in 2020, finished in a share of fourth place alongside defending champion Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth, who started with four birdies in his first five holes. All took home $800,000.
The Bay Hill course aided by lightning fast greens, thick rough and by Mother Nature's stiff breezes proved a stern test yet again for the worlds best, dropping just 9 shots to par over 72 holes.
Kitayama qualifies for The 151st Open at Royal Liverpool as a result of his win alongside fellow American pair English and Davis Riley, who shot a final round of 66 to finish in a share of eighth place.
“It’s going to be amazing to play in The Open,” said Kitayama. “It’s always a great feeling to play in the majors."
Note: Arnold Palmer won 7 majors in his career worth a total of $90,990
Canadian scores:
Corey Connors T21 72 66 75 72 -3 $226,333
Adam Svensson T24 72 73 69 72 -2 $163,000
Mac Hughes T61 74 71 74 72 +3 $44,400
This week the ante goes up from $20m to $25,000,000 for the Players Championship on TPC Sawgrass at PGA HQ in Ponte Verde. Connors, Hadwin, Taylor, Hughes, Svensson and Pendrith are all in the full field.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
Note: Other Canadians.
Cologuard Classic scores here Mike Weir T8 68 71 68 -9, Stephen Ames 72 72 72 E, David Moreland 74th 75 78 74 +11
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