Nobody can declare Kurt Kitayama earned his maiden PGA Tour win the simple manner. The Californian recovered from a triple bogey on the 9th hollow of his ultimate spherical and held off the problem of Rory McIlroy to succeed on the Arnold Palmer Invitational. For his efforts, $3.6m (£2.99m) and top reward from an differently rueful McIlroy. “It was a great back nine, it was great to be involved in,” stated McIlroy. “I’m actually glad for Kurt. He’s been enjoying neatly for some time now and I’m glad to look him get his first win.”
At the last, Kitayama, 30, rolled a glorious 48ft putt to within millimeters of the cup. McIlroy, watching on from the scoring area, knew his eight under par total – Harris English shared that aggregate – would be insufficient for a playoff. Kitayama’s birdie two at the penultimate hole proved the key moment of a gripping finale. At one stage, not long before the close of play, five golfers shared the lead at minus eight. Kitayama’s fortitude prevailed.
“It used to be actually onerous,” said the champion. “I’m going to sleep really well tonight. It was everything I kind of mentally prepared myself for. It was pretty much as hard as I expected. I’ve always dreamed of winning on tour and to finally do it, it’s pretty amazing. It’s pretty unbelievable, really.”
At 11 beneath, Kitayama led through two when taking to the 9.th tea. Chaos adopted. He whacked his force out of bounds and located a terrible bunker lie along with his 3rd. By the time he tapped in for a seven, the chief used to be Jordan Spieth. Kitayama additionally took seven on the 4.th on day 3. Without those wild aberrations, he may have received with little to spare.
Bogeys on 3 of the ultimate 5 holes ensured Spieth completed at minus seven. Patrick Cantlay, Tyrrell Hatton and Scottie Scheffler completed at the identical ranking. Scheffler – the protecting champion – bogeyed the ultimate, with Kitayama’s end rendering that much less painful than may have been the case. “I haven’t really had a real lead on Sunday late in quite a while,” stated Spieth. “So it was nice to be able to kind of see where things are in those moments and learn from them.”
McIlroy attacked the par 3 14th whilst no longer understanding his birdie at the earlier hollow had afforded him a one-stroke lead. “I wouldn’t have tried to play the shot that I played,” he admitted. The Northern Irishman had bogeyed his first two holes however steadied himself to the purpose of 3 beneath for the day after 13. Bogeys on the subsequent two stalled his run however he got here inside of a whisker of attaining 9 beneath with a birdie strive on the ultimate.
“I still wish I could have had a couple of shots back today but I guess everyone would say the same thing,” stated McIlroy. “It’s a type of days and a type of classes the place you are going to rue neglected alternatives and a few neglected putts right here and there. I wish to take the positives from it, of which there are so much. We’ve were given a large tournament subsequent week [the Players Championship] and I’ll attempt to deliver that momentum into Sawgrass.”
Kitayama, English and Davis Riley earned spots at this summer season’s Open Championship because of their Bay Hill finishes.