We all love to watch the greats of the game, but there’s something special about an underdog coming out on top to beat an experienced field…

It was a dramatic end to the Arnold Palmer Invitational this weekend as Kurt Kitayama overcame competition with tour veterans to claim his first PGA event win. It may not be the year’s biggest tournament, but the late Arnold Palmer’s idyllic Orlando golf course is undoubtedly on many a golfer’s bucket list.

Kitayama was leading the tournament on the final day at 11 under with 9 holes to play, the likes of Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy close behind him. He took a bad tee shot on the 9^th, resulting in him scoring a triple bogey on that hole to bring him to 8 under par. Going into the back 9, Spieth was leading on 10 under. However, the pressure got to him in the final handful of holes. He scored bogeys on 14, 15, and 17 to finish on 7 under.

While Kitayama was holding his ground at 8 under, making par on every hole from 10 to 16, Rory was 7 under after the 12^th hole. He then made birdies on 12 and 13 only to bogey 14 and 15. A subsequent birdie on 16 moved him to 8 under par. Both McIlroy and Kitayama were tied for the lead alongside Harris English with two holes to play.

Not buckling under the weight of having his first win within his grasp, Kitayama made a fantastic birdie on the par 3 17^th hole to climb ahead of the competition, and with English and McIlroy scoring pars on 17 and 18, Kitayama secured his place as the winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational for 2023.

Getting his first tour win at Bay Hill clearly meant a lot to the American “It’s pretty amazing, and you know, just to get your first win I think is an unbelievable thing. I’m lucky enough to have had it at a very special place.”

With such exciting golf concluding in Orlando, we’ve no doubt that the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass this week will produce some spectacular scenes.

Spectators were loving the closing playoff of the Honda Classic in Florida this weekend, but how are the PGA looking to rebrand their future tournaments?

The PGA Tour has no shortage of distinctive, idyllic golf courses, and you can include the PGA National Members Club in that list. The Course has been home to the Honda Classic tournament since 2007 and features the tenacious Bear Trap, a trio of tough holes known to ‘make-or-break’ a player’s round, named endearingly after Course Designer Jack Nicklaus. However, the tournament is set for a change of direction come 2024.

This year’s event ended with a dramatic playoff between two Americans, Chris Kirk and Eric Cole. Kirk ended his final hole with a bogey forcing the playoff when both players ended on 14 under par. When replaying the par 5 18^th hole, Cole overhit the hole to find the bunker and finish with a par, whereas Kirk laid up and approached the green with a fantastic wedge shot, giving him a birdie tap-in to make him the tournament’s winner.

It was Kirk’s first win on tour since 2015, and the win clearly meant a lot to him “I’m so grateful for my family. I’m so grateful for everyone that supported me throughout the past three or four years, especially.”

It may not be the biggest event on the golfing calendar, and it may not boast the most household names, but the PGA are determined to shake up the tournament schedule for next year in order to breathe new life into the Honda Classic. Completely rebranding the event with a new sponsor and time slot.

The PGA are still finalising what the 2024 Tour may look like, but the Golden Bear himself, Jack Nicklaus, is reassuring Floridians that they’re not going away anytime soon “The tournament’s going to be just fine…look at how this town has supported this event without having a great field. I think they’ve done great.”