Kurt Kitayama will admit this – he is thinking 59. But can you blame him? There is no U.S. Open 70 players to complete the job at the 3m Open at TPC Twins in Brian, Minnesota.
Jhonattan Vegas won 17 times last year. Lee Hodges won the year before his under-24 win. During the six years of the competition, Highest The victory score is under 15 years old.
So you can understand why Kitayama at the early kick-off time on Saturday wasn’t afraid of that sacred number.
But he must settle for 60.
Kitayama shot on Saturday day, ending 11 points on Sunday and crossing the rankings on Sunday. Overall, he only has one of 54 hole leaders Akshay Bhatia and Thorbjorn Olesen.
Three more – Gomikanaya, Sam Stevens and Takumi Kanaya and Jake Knapp are under 17, with a total of 13 players within four shots of the under 18 leader.
Kitayama’s 60 are not only the best in the tour’s career, but also the best in personal terms. He shot 7 shots below 28 in the front, including five consecutive birdies on 3-7. When he was 15 and 16 years old, there were 59 shots at hand – the last two needed to be shot below, 18 of which was 5 – but he couldn’t play up and down from the 17-hole sand and made a bogey. He almost killed his way for the 18-year-old eagle, but had to settle down on the bird.
“Yesterday’s round felt like I had no control,” said Kitayama, whose 60 tied for Adam Svensson on Thursday’s game. “I hit some balls, talked to my coach, Chris Como, and did something on the range. It felt like I found something I could choose. Warm up today, it felt good, it felt good. Yes, I’m glad I found it.”
Kitayama said working with Como improved his driving (he ranked 12th in stroke: standing out), but he also said he won his only PGA Tour victory two years ago at Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The hottest player in golf is not named Scottie Scheffler, Chris Gotterup, and becomes a group of players under the age of 16. Gotterup won the Genesis Scottish Open two weeks ago and finished third in the Open last week. Now, he is a huge distance from his epic three weeks.
“Everyone’s shooting percentage was low throughout the week, so you’re going to have to put a few birds together,” Gotterup said. “I just prepared for a day and then took a week off.”
Saturday is a gunfight. Sunday will be one too.
