Kitayama grabs lead at wet, windy Pebble Seaside

Kurt Kitayama steered a gentle course in demanding circumstances Friday to take a one-shot lead within the Pebble Seaside Professional-Am, the place he is chasing his first US PGA Tour title.

The Californian, who has two European Tour titles on his resume, parred his first 9 holes and had three birdies and a bogey coming in to put up a two-under par 70 for a nine-under whole of 134.

He was one stroke away from first-round chief Hank Lebioda, Kevin Mitchell, Brando Wu and Joseph Bramlett.

“As we speak was actually powerful,” mentioned Kitayama, who performed the par-72 Pebble Seaside Golf Hyperlinks, one among three programs in use over the primary three rounds together with par-72 Spyglass Hill and the par-71 Monterey Peninsula course.

“Total, I am actually proud of the place I am at and the way I performed at the moment.”

Of the group sharing second, three performed at Monterey Peninsula, the place Wu carded a 66, Mitchell posted a 68 and Bramlett carded a 67.

Lebioda, who opened with a 63 at Monterey Peninsula on Thursday, carded an excellent par 72 at Pebble Seaside.

Lebioda teed off on 10 and had the solo lead at 10-under after birdies on the tenth and second, however he dropped again with a double-bogey on the par-three fifth.

After gusting winds hit the later starters on Thursday, morning rain and extra blustery winds pushed up scores on Friday morning.

Extra rain and wind was forecast for the weekend, and tee occasions have been moved as much as attempt to miss the worst of it.

England’s Justin Rose and Eire’s Seamus Energy each mentioned the climate reminded them of dwelling.

“It was a little bit of a dreary sort of day, sort of English I suppose,” mentioned Rose, whose three-under par spherical at Spyglass Hill included a gap in a single on the par-three fifteenth.

“A big day all the time while you handle to have a hole-in-one,” he mentioned. “I imagine it is my twelfth.

“Type of felt like I might have kicked on from that time slightly extra,” added Rose, who had two late bogeys and completed the day tied for eleventh, three pictures off the lead.

– At some point, many seasons –

Energy headlined a bunch sharing sixth on seven-under par after firing a formidable seven-under par 64 at Monterey Peninsula that included six birdies and an eagle on the par-five sixteenth.

Energy mentioned he performed within the rain by way of the primary 5 or 6 holes, with blustery winds across the flip earlier than “the previous couple of holes have been very nice.

“It was a kind of days sort of like again dwelling in Eire the place you get quite a lot of seasons in sooner or later,” he mentioned. “Even while you get alternatives within the fairway the greens due to the rain are mushy. So attempting to maintain the ball near the outlet, it may be difficult. I used to be in a position to make some putts to cowl up among the errors.”

Play was stopped on the eleventh gap at Pebble Seaside after a caddie for one of many newbie gamers collapsed and acquired CPR earlier than being taken to a close-by hospital.

“In the course of the second spherical of the AT&T Pebble Seaside Professional-Am, there was a medical emergency at No. 11 at Pebble Seaside involving an newbie’s caddie,” the PGA Tour mentioned in an announcement. “The caddie has been rushed to Montage Well being for analysis.”

The PGA Tour gamers in that group, Max McGreevy and Beau Hossler, have been allowed to take a while to gather themselves, heat up and resume play.

Golf Channel reported that the caddie was anticipated to recuperate.

bb/des