DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – You’d think a guy who lives in Las Vegas would like the odd wager or six, but Kurt Kitayama has no side bet with Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre on who wins the race to become European Tour Rookie of the Year for 2019.
Pity, because it’s one of the most exciting sprints for best newcomer in European Tour history. And it didn’t change one inch after the opening round of the $8 million DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, the final event of the 2019 season.
MacIntrye leads Kitayama by just 90.6 points in the rookie race. MacIntyre lies 11th on the Race to Dubai while Kitayama is 12th. They played together in the opening round and both shot 1-under 71s.
“We don’t have any bets,” Kitayama said. “We’re both just doing our own thing. I just want to play well this week and see what happens. There’s no point thinking about Rookie of the Year. This is a good chance for me to play well and hopefully move closer to the World Top 50.”
The pair chatted together a few times during the round, but not about the rookie race. “We’ve gotten to know each other a little bit,” Kitayama added. “This is the third time we’ve played together in the last month.”
The former UNLV player birdied the last to match MacIntyre’s score.
“I just couldn’t get anything going early on, so I was happy to shoot under par and now I’ll try to improve the next three rounds.”
Kitayama can become only the third American following Brooks Koepka (2014) and Peter Uihlein (2013) to win the rookie title
MacIntyre is bidding to become the first Scot since Marc Warren in 2006 to become Rookie of the Year. Like Kitayama, he’s hoping good golf takes care of business.
“I don’t even worry if I’m being honest,” said MacIntyre when asked if he would keep a close eye on how Kitayama is doing. “He does his thing. My job is to win my battle. If I win every battle that I set myself, then the outcome will be irrelevant, and it will be what it will be. I can’t control what he does. I can only control myself. I’ve set myself goals. I set goals and I battle through them.”
The 2017 Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup player wouldn’t reveal what his goals are this week. But Rookie of the Year certainly has to be the reward that goes with achieving those goals.
[lawrence-related id=778012833,778012715,778012659]