‘Honorary Gator’ persevered to win title
When J.C. Deacon agreed to coach 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Kurt Kitayama during the summer of 2018, the last thing Florida’s golf coach needed was another project.
Deacon had a wife and two young daughters, a nationally ranked golf program and a pretty fair game himself to manage, having won the 2017 Florida Open. He also knew a sure thing when he saw it, even if Kitayama was filled with doubt and lacking confidence.
After he reached the winner’s circle during a topsy-turvy Sunday at Bay Hill, Kitayama credited Deacon for overseeing the 30-yearold’s steady ascension toward the top of the sport.
“When I lost my Korn Ferry Tour card, he stepped in … I was lost,” Kitayama said. “He’s come in and helped me so much. I wouldn’t be here without him.”
Following a three-year go as a professional, Deacon was a firsttime assistant coach at alma mater UNLV when he met Kitayama in the fall of 2011.
The 18-year-old from Chico, Calif., left a lasting impression.
“He was so bad he barely could break 75,” a sanguine, sweaty Deacon recalled after following Kitayama on Sunday.
Deacon also saw potential and sensed a willingness to work. Once coach and player identified and fixed a crucial flaw in Kitayama’s swing, his golf game and college career took off.
Kitayama was hanging on his left side and did not properly pivot to turn behind the golf ball, ending his unorthodox swing with a “a funky follow-through,” as his coach described.
“He looked like octopus swinging the club,” Deacon said. “He was all over the place.”
Once Deacon smoothed out Kitayama’s frenetic move, results eventually followed.
“He just kept working his way up and was one of our best players by his junior year — and their best player as a senior,” Deacon said.
But Kitayama’s road from Las Vegas to the big time was as all over the map as his one-time golf swing.
Following his maiden PGA Tour victory during one of golf’s most prestigious stops, he estimated he’d teed it up on 10 other tours. Wins in Europe, Asia and Africa from 2018 to 2019 followed his reunion with Deacon.
In September 2021, Kitayama earned Tour card by finishing 23rd in the Korn Ferry Tour finals.
“He’s just kept getting better and it’s been a long road to the Tour … and to get his first win,” Deacon said. “The kid’s worked so hard and has become such a professional in everything he does.”
A former high school basketball player with tree-trunk legs earning him the nickname “Quadzilla,” the 5-foot-7 Kitayama is a powerhouse. He averages more than 307 yards off the tee, has a rock-solid iron game and is highly efficient around the greens. His scrambling percentage of better than 95% percent inside 10 yards is 24th on Tour while he is 13th in sand saves (62.8%).
Kitayama leaned on every element in his arsenal Sunday.
Five players were tied for the lead with three holes remaining. Six different golfers either held or shared the final-round lead, including three major champions (Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth) and three former API winners (Scheffler, McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton).
When Kitayama made triple-bogey 7 on the demanding par-4 9th, the tournament’s toughest hole, the 54-hole leader looked cooked — his 2-shot lead gone entering the final nine.
“What did I say? ‘If he’s really got mental toughness, he’s going show it,’ ” Deacon recalled, with Kitayama’s trainer Rian Chab alongside. “We talked about it and he did it.”
But until Kitayama sank a birdie just inside 15 feet following a 6-iron on the 217-yard par-3 17th, the API was anyone’s to win. Down the stretch, though, Spieth, Hatton, McIlroy, Scheffler and Harris English could not sink a putt.
“We were freaking out, but it was really fun,” Deacon said. “It was just non-stop. The birdie on 17 was the difference.”
Kitayama also credited the fortitude developed during his many travels and travails to reach the Tour.
“It’s a different experience, for sure,” he said. “That just helps you grow as a person and when you get into situations like this you know there’s tougher things.” Kitayama is no lone wolf.
He comes from a tight-knit family and has Deacon at the ready for advice when his swing feels amiss.
“It’s constant over text and video about his golf swing,” Deacon said.
A half-dozen or so times a year, Deacon and Kitayama get together. Once a year, Kitayama even makes it to UF’s Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, earning him “honorary Gator” status, Deacon said.
“He loves wearing the Florida Gator Nike workout gear,” Deacon said.
On Sunday night, though, Kitayama and Deacon proudly donned the coveted red cardigan given the winner of Arnold Palmer’s longstanding event.
Deacon was among the many celebrating the moment at Bay Hill. While he enjoyed festivities Kitayama also fielded congratulatory texts and calls, and FaceTimed with some of those who had helped make the moment possible.
“It was so amazing,” Deacon said. “Bay Hill went above and beyond, just took such great care of us. Seeing him so happy ... It was a celebration of his career to this point during such a big milestone.
“It was really, really special.”