Kurt Kitayama

Last updated

Kurt Kitayama
Personal information
Full nameKurt Shun Kitayama
NicknameThe Project [1]
Born (1993-01-14) January 14, 1993 (age 31)
Chico, California
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight170 lb (77 kg)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Career
College University of Nevada-Las Vegas
Turned professional2015
Current tour(s) PGA Tour
European Tour
Former tour(s) Asian Tour
Web.com Tour
PGA Tour Canada
PGA Tour China
Asian Development Tour
Professional wins4
Highest ranking 19 (March 5, 2023) [2]
(as of November 24, 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
European Tour2
Asian Tour1
Sunshine Tour1
Other1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament T35: 2024
PGA Championship T4: 2023
U.S. Open CUT: 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024
The Open Championship T41: 2024

Kurt Shun Kitayama (born January 14, 1993) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. On the European Tour, he won the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open in December 2018 and the Oman Open in March 2019. In March 2023, he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour.

Contents

Early life

Kitayama was born in Chico, California, some 87 miles north of Sacramento, and graduated from Chico High School in 2011. Although his height was just 5–6, he was the Senior co-captain and starting point guard on the basketball team, while leading the Panthers to a 27–2 record and the 2011 California Northern Section Title. [3] In the Championship Game, he scored 31 points and had 6 assists as Chico beat city-rival Pleasant Valley High School by a score of 67–54. [4]

Kitayama's older brother Daniel played golf 2007–2008 at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and later came to work as a professional caddie.

Amateur career

In 2009, Kitayama finished tied 3rd at the Callaway Junior World Golf Championships, 15–17 age category, at the 2008 U.S. Open course Torrey Pines, South Course, San Diego, California, against an international field including Bryson DeChambeau. Kitayama was appointed 2009 Player of the Year by The Junior Golf Association of Northern California.

After high school, Kitayama attended the University of Nevada-Las Vegas from 2011 to 2015, where he was named to the Academic-All Mountain West team three consecutive years. [5] He won the Jackrabbit Invitational held in Primm, Nevada, in 2014 as well as 2015.

Kitayama's best World Amateur Golf Ranking was 47th.

Professional career

Kitayama turned professional in 2015. He played mostly on the Web.com Tour in 2016 and 2017 with little success and was ranked 1174 in the world at the end of 2017.

In 2018, Kitayama played mostly on the Asian Tour. He played a single Asian Development Tour event, the PGM Darulaman Championship in Malaysia, which he won. He had some good finishes on the Asian Tour, including tied for 4th in the New Zealand Open, joint runner-up in the Royal Cup and joint 4th in the Asia-Pacific Diamond Cup Golf, an event co-sanctioned with the Japan Golf Tour.

In November 2018, he finished tied for 3rd place in the European Tour Q-School to earn a place on the 2019 European Tour. In just the second event of the season, the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, played in late 2018, he won by two strokes. [6] The event was co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour and the Asian Tour. The win lifted him into the top 200 of the world rankings. In March 2019, he became the fastest player to two wins in European Tour history when he won the Oman Open in only his 11th career appearance. [7]

In September 2021, he earned his PGA Tour card by finishing 23rd in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. [8]

In February 2022, he recorded a 3rd place finish at The Honda Classic. In May 2022, Kitayama improved upon this performance, recording a T2 finish at the Mexico Open.

In March 2023, he earned his first PGA Tour victory by winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational. [9]

Amateur wins

Professional wins (4)

PGA Tour wins (1)

Legend
Designated events (1)
Other PGA Tour (0)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1Mar 5, 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational −9 (67-68-72-72=279)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Harris English, Ulster Banner.svg Rory McIlroy

European Tour wins (2)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1Dec 2, 2018
(2019 season)		 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open 1−20 (65-65-70-68=268)2 strokes Flag of India.svg S. Chikkarangappa, Flag of France.svg Matthieu Pavon
2Mar 2, 2019 Oman Open −7 (66-74-71-70=281)1 stroke Flag of Spain.svg Jorge Campillo, Flag of Germany.svg Maximilian Kieffer,
Flag of France.svg Clément Sordet, Flag of Paraguay.svg Fabrizio Zanotti

1Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Sunshine Tour

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 2019 Turkish Airlines Open Flag of England.svg Tyrrell Hatton, Flag of France.svg Benjamin Hébert,
Flag of France.svg Victor Perez, Flag of Austria.svg Matthias Schwab,
Flag of South Africa.svg Erik van Rooyen 		Hatton won with par on fourth extra hole
Kitayama eliminated by birdie on third hole
Hébert, Perez and van Rooyen eliminated by birdie on first hole

Asian Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runners-up
1Dec 2, 2018 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open 1−20 (65-65-70-68=268)2 strokes Flag of India.svg S. Chikkarangappa, Flag of France.svg Matthieu Pavon

1Co-sanctioned by the European Tour and the Sunshine Tour

Asian Development Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner-up
1Jan 27, 2018 Darulaman Championship1−21 (63-70-64-70=267)2 strokes Flag of the United States.svg John Catlin

1Co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf of Malaysia Tour

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order in 2020.

Tournament201920202021202220232024
Masters Tournament CUTT35
PGA Championship T64T51CUTT4T26
U.S. Open CUTCUTCUTCUT
The Open Championship CUTNTCUTT72T60T41
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament 00000021
PGA Championship 00011154
U.S. Open 00000040
The Open Championship 00000053
Totals000111168

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament20232024
The Players Championship CUTT19

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament20192020202120222023
Championship T53
Match Play NT1QF
Invitational
Champions T28NT1NT1NT1

1Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Top 10
  Did not play

NT = No tournament
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Priest, Evin (March 5, 2023). "How Kurt Kitayama went from 'The Project' to a PGA Tour winner". Golf Digest. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Week 9 2023 Ending 5 Mar 2023" (pdf). OWGR . Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Chico 2010-11 Basketball Schedule" . Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  4. ↑ "2011 California Northern Section Boys Basketball Playoff" . Retrieved July 31, 2020.
  5. ↑ "UNLV 2014-15 Men's Golf Roster Kurt Kitayama". unlvrebels.com. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Kitayama claims maiden victory in Mauritius". European Tour. December 2, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Kurt Kitayama profile". European Tour. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Meet the 25 players who earned PGA Tour cards through the Korn Ferry Tour Finals". PGA Tour. September 5, 2021. Archived from the original on September 23, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  9. ↑ Ferguson, Doug (March 5, 2023). "Kurt Kitayama breaks through in wild finish at Bay Hill". Associated Press. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
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