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A16 sports
Tuesday 7 March 2023
Kurt Kitayama breaks through in wild finish at Bay Hill

By DOUG FERGUSON feet from the 14th through
AP Golf Writer the 17th holes — three of
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Kurt them for par. After tak-
Kitayama only had to look ing the lead with a 15-foot
around at the players next birdie putt on the 13th hole,
to him in the practice area he played his last five holes
and right below him on in 3 over.
the leaderboard at Bay Hill "I wouldn't have hit any of
to know what he was up the putts differently. I hit my
against Sunday in the Ar- line on every single one of
nold Palmer Invitational. them. I misread all four by
"You can't ignore it. You just barely," Spieth said.
got to know where you're Spieth (70), Scheffler Patrick
at and you know who is Cantlay (68) and Hatton
there and just embrace the (72) all finished two shots
whole situation, I guess," behind.
Kitayama said after a final They all had a chance,
two hours of pure theater mostly because of one
for his first PGA Tour win. swing. Kitayama had a
He got the result he desper- two-shot lead when he hit
ately wanted in a fashion a wild hook out-of-bounds
he never imagined. Kurt Kitayama holds the championship trophy after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf on the ninth hole, leading
First came the wild tee shot tournament Sunday, March 5, 2023, in Orlando, Fla. to triple bogey.
that sailed out-of-bounds Associated Press "It went south on 9," Kitaya-
on the ninth hole that led ma said. "All of a sudden,
to triple bogey and let an The tap-in for an even-par world. biggest events on the PGA I'm not leading any more. I
All-Star cast — Rory McIl- 72 was the easiest shot he McIlroy roared into the Tour. So good for him." just fought back hard, and
roy, Jordan Spieth, Scottie faced all day, giving him a mix with four birdies in a Scheffler was a foot away I'm proud of myself for that."
Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton and one-shot win over McIlroy five-hole stretch around from having a close look The finish kept everyone
Harris English — back into and English. the turn, took on a shot he at birdie on the 18th and a guessing, especially when
the tournament. The soft-spoken Kitayama didn't need because he chance to take the lead. there was a five-way tie for
And then the 30-year- was due. Over the last year didn't realize he was tied Instead, his ball spun back the lead deep in the round,
old Californian, who has he finished one shot behind for the lead on the 14th, into the rough, his chip all of them one swing or
played on 11 tours around to Jon Rahm in Mexico, to and ultimately missed a 10- came out weakly and he one putt away from poten-
the world to hone is game, Xander Schauffele in Scot- foot birdie putt on the final finished with a bogey for a tially winning.
delivered the winner. land, to McIlroy in South hole and shot 70. 73. "I certainly felt it on the golf
Part of a five-way tie for Carolina. English remarkably went "I wish I played a little bit course, so I'm sure it was
the lead with three holes This time, he beat them all. bogey-free on brittle Bay better, but at the end of pretty good to watch," Mc-
to play, he drilled a 6-iron "I think just a little bit of Hill for the entire weekend. the day I put up a good Ilroy said. "It's hard because
to just inside 15 feet on the luck finally went my way," He missed an 18-foot birdie fight," Scheffler said. "But the lead was changing
par-3 17th and holed it for Kitayama said. "When it's putt on the last hole for a Kurt played fantastic golf hands with guys making
birdie to take the lead. that close at the top, that's 70. today. I think to birdie 17 bogeys, not really making
From the gnarly rough left what you need. Anyone "I know Kurt more from Eu- and par 18 to finish and win birdies. So don't know how
of the 18th fairway, he probably could have won ropean tour stuff," McIlroy by one is pretty special." people find that entertain-
gouged an 8-iron onto the it. Luckily, it just happened said. "But he's done really Spieth was among six play- ment value.
green to 50 feet. Needing to be me." well. He's persevered and ers who had at least a "But it was a great back
two putts to win, the first He finished at 9-under 279 played wherever he could share of the lead over the nine. It was great to be in-
one stopped an inch from and earned $3.6 million, get starts and all of a sud- final two hours. He missed volved with," he said. "I'm
the cup. moving to No. 19 in the den he's won one of the four straight putts inside 8 really happy for Kurt. He's
been playing well for a
while now and I'm happy
Djokovic withdraws after failed bid to play Indian Wells to see him get his first win."
Of the top seven players,
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — request, which would have all of them have either won
Top-ranked Novak Djokov- allowed him to play back- majors or played in the Ry-
ic has withdrawn from the to-back at Indian Wells and der Cup. The exception is
upcoming BNP Paribas Miami, which runs March Kitayama, who groomed
Open, having lost his bid to 19-April 2. himself for a moment like
enter the United States un- The U.S. is ending its COV- this with so many close calls
vaccinated to play in the ID-19 emergency declara- against players with pol-
Southern California event. tion on May 11, which will ished pedigrees.
The tournament an- allow foreign air travelers Kitayama, who played at
nounced his withdrawal on to enter the county without UNLV, didn't find much suc-
Sunday night. Play in the being vaccinated. cess on the Korn Ferry Tour
combined ATP-WTA event The 22-time Grand Slam and took his trade over-
begins Wednesday at In- champion lost in the semi- seas to the Asian Tour and
dian Wells Tennis Garden finals of the Dubai Tennis European tour, along with
and runs through March 19. Championships on Friday. stops in Canada, South Af-
Serbia's Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Daniil Medvedev dur- Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said With Djokovic out, Nikoloz rica, China, Korea, Japan,
ing their semi final match of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Cham- on Twitter that Homeland Basilashvili moved into the the PGA Tour of Australasia
pionships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, March 2, 2023. Security had rejected Indian Wells draw.q and the Asian Develop-
Associated Press
Djokovic's vaccine waiver ment Tour.q