Kurt Kitayama has worked his way up golf’s tough ladder — a two-year stint on the then Webb.com Tour then a trip to the European Tour (DP World Tour) where he found his footing with a pair of wins.
The former UNLV golfer won the 2018 Mauritius Open and the 2019 Oman Open then earned his Tour card in the Korn-Ferry finals. He put together a good day’s work on Thursday at PGA National with a six-under par 64 that gave him the first round lead at the Honda Classic.
Kitayama had seven birdies on the day and a single bogey on a course where trouble lurks everywhere. More than 85 golf balls found the water on day one and the wind didn’t even blow as hard as it was expected to.
Kitayama was a shot better than Daniel Berger, one of the pre-tournament favorites. Berger was one of the few who carded a bogey-free round and his 65 tied him with Rory Sabbatini and Chris Kirk. Berger has recovered from the injuries that kept him from defending his title at Pebble Beach last month. It’s a home game for him as he lives a short drive from PGA National.
Biggest name in the field is another player staying at his home this week. Brooks Koepka opened with a two-under par 68 and the formula for this event has been if you can shoot a couple under par every day, you’ll be in the hunt come Sunday.
Matt Jones won with a 12-under par total last year but the Aussie will be hard-pressed to make it to the weekend this go-round as he struggled with a 73 to start his title defense.
Rickie Fowler is a big local favorite and a former winner of this event and he got off to a great start on day one. Rickie was three-under through his first six holes but double-bogeys at the ninth and 18lth left him signing for a two-over par 72 and he’ll have to work hard on Friday to keep from heading home early to his Loxahatchee riverfront mansion.
Greg Norman Pens Poison Letter/Threat To PGA Tour And Commish Jay Monahan:
Greg Norman will not go quietly into the night.
Quite the opposite. Norman appears to be ready to dig in his heels and become more of a pain for the PGA Tour and Commissioner Jay Monahan.
Following the sequence of events leading up to the revelations from Phil Mickelson, Norman penned a nasty letter to the Tour
Here’s how parts of it read:
“Surely you jest. And surely, your lawyers at the PGA Tour must be holding their breath — for decades, I have fought for the rights of players to enjoy a career in which they are rewarded fully and properly for their efforts. They are one-in-a-million athletes. Yet for decades, the Tour has put its own financial ambitions ahead of the players, and every player on the tour knows it. The Tour is the Players Tour not your administration’s Tour. Why do you call the crown jewel in all tournaments outside the Majors “The Players Championship” and not “The Administration’s Championship?
“But when you try to bluff and intimidate players by bullying and threatening them, you are guilty of going too far, being unfair, and you likely are in violation of the law. Simply put, you can’t ban players from playing golf. Players have the right and the freedom to play where we like. I know for a fact that many PGA players were and still are interested in playing for a new league, in addition to playing for the Tour. What is wrong with that?
“What is wrong with allowing players to make their own decisions about where to play and how often to play? What is so wrong with player choice? Why do you feel so threatened that you would resort to such a desperate, unwise, and unenforceable threat?
“Competition in all aspects of life, sport, and business is healthy and the players deserve to be well compensated, which is why so many players have expressed interest in playing in a new league,” Norman wrote. “But when you threaten to end players’ careers and when you engage in unfair labor practices with your web of player restrictions, you demonstrate exactly why players are open minded about joining a league that treats players well, respects them, and compensates them according to their true worth.
“Commissioner—this is just the beginning. It is certainly not the end.”
We read this and wonder if it was signed: “Your friend, Greg Norman?”
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