First Time Winner - Kurt Kitayama wins, Rory is out of touch, and more.
" I hit the ball as hard as I can. If I can find it, I hit it again. ”
- John Daly
Recap: Arnold Palmer Invitational
Yesterday was the best Sunday of the year for professional golf, so far.
In the last hour of the tournament, we had 4 players tied for the lead at -8 and 3 players T2 at -7. It's was exactly the kind of drama a golf fan wants to see for a closing round Sunday.
Kurt Kitayama overcame a triple bogey on the 9th hole, which could've unraveled his whole day. Instead, he played the back 9 bogey free and went on to win -9.
He was 200-1 pre tournament as the outright winner. Another miss for the Shanks Crew.
Arnold Palmer Invitational Final Results
Divots
Some other interesting notes from The Arnold Palmer.
Kurt Kitayama's win earned him $3.6 million bucks, a spot in all for majors, and makes him an exempt player until 2026. Pretty awesome considering it was his first win on tour.
Rory McIlroy may be slightly out of touch with what golf fans really want, which is struggle and drama, not making birdies every hole.
Rory today: "The lead's changing hands with guys making bogeys, not really birdies. So don't know how people find that entertainment value."
This is a point players, Tour often miss. We like when it's hard! We like seeing bogeys! Birdies aren't cool when everyone's making them!
— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport)
1:04 AM • Mar 6, 2023
3. The Jordan Spieth experience was in full effect on Sunday. The dude is just so good, so creative, and so talented, yet he missed two, five-foot par saving puts on the back nine. If he gets the putter working, we could see some magic again.
4. Jon Rahm, who's been on fire this season, cooled off. He played a phenomenal opening round, but followed up with 76, 76, 72. He did have the best quote of the weekend though.
Jon Rahm didn’t mince words after a tough day at the @APinv.
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel)
10:44 PM • Mar 3, 2023
Fans to PGA Tour: We want less ads.
If you're reading this, you're likely a big sports guy.
We've become accustomed to seeing ads mid game for every league on earth, but there was something particularly egregious about the amount of ads NBC was running during the Arnold Palmer invitational.
Golf Twitter wasn't thrilled about it...
Hate to complain about broadcast but for NBC’s Bay Hill coverage to be this bad after…
-CBS coming strong out of the gate
-Renewed interest in the sport from the Netflix show…is embarrassing
— Joel Beall (@JoelMBeall)
10:09 PM • Mar 5, 2023
Rory McIlroy: drains 30-footer, ties for lead
Tyrrell Hatton: misses 4-footer, throws ball in water
Jordan Spieth: somehow lights his golf bag on fire, mutters a spell under his breath to put it out, hits flop shot to 3 feet, misses
Dan Hicks: anyway, back to the Mastercard CEO— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier)
9:18 PM • Mar 5, 2023
Most seem to believe it was NBC's fault only, as there haven't been many CBS complaints.
NBC is struggggggggggling today. My goodness this broadcast has been bad.
— Tron Carter (@TronCarterNLU)
9:21 PM • Mar 4, 2023
Tiger To Play Senior Tour?
Nick Faldo launched a podcast and he invited Jack Nicklaus on for an episode.
According to the Golden Bear, Tiger plans to play on the senior tour when he turns 50, in addition to all four majors.
“He’d love to play the senior tour. That’s what I love about Tiger, he’s a competitor, he loves competition.”
He's 47 now, so that only leaves a few more years of seeing Tiger play non-major events on the tour (not that he's playing a bunch now). The end of an era is upon us.
Still think he wins another major before it's all over though.
Better Than Your Desk
Lely Resort, Florida
Lely Resort, FL by @birdie_bound_golf
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Arccos Sensors
Most golfers are totally delusional about which part of their games actually needs improvement. That's where Arccos comes in.
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That's all folks! See you Wednesday where we'll discuss gambling on The Players.