My entire season has been made. Although my 250-1 dart throw on fellow NorCal native Kurt Kitayama was made post-article, the drive split the fairway. I waxed poetically about how Kitayama’s play style fit Bay Hill like a glove on The 19th Hole Live, my weekly golf show on YouTube for In Between Media. My wager was $5.30 for our home area code in Chico, California. The $1,325 payout still isn’t as sweet as the responses I received on social media for the miraculous call.
It was a special moment for 30-year-old Kitayama, whose first PGA Tour victory stared down the barrel of the best golfers in the world. He nearly gave it away on the ninth hole on Sunday when his tee shot landed out of bounds by mere inches. The ensuing triple bogey instantly brought him from a two-stroke lead to a one-stroke deficit with the arduous back nine ahead. It still never felt like the $3.6 million prize was the focus.
Kitayama saved par after par until his birdie on the 17th put him back in front of what was once a five-way tie at the top. He still needed to save par on 18. Two putts to win on a left-to-right sweeping 50-foot putt, downhill and down-grain. It was perfect. The last blade of Bermuda suspended his Taylor-Made ball on the lip. One more dimple from the moment that defines a career and earns an invitation to the Masters. Kurt Kitayama defeated Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay. He held off Tyrrell Hatton and Scottie Scheffler, among others. It was .