MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2026

Kurt Kitayama

Quick Quotes

Q. Eight birdies, three bogeys, a double. It's probably not how you drew it up, but I bet you'll take it after the first round.

KURT KITAYAMA: Yeah, definitely. It's nice to make a lot of birdies on this course. It's very difficult, so being able to make a lot of birdies helps especially because you're trying to avoid the big number, but it might happen.

Q. Were you trying to play aggressively and make some birdies out there, or was this a sort of hang on, and you happened to make a whole bunch of putts?

KURT KITAYAMA: I just tried to hit it in the right spots, give myself a good look, the best look that I could from wherever I was, and give myself a shot at it.

Q. You obviously won at Bay Hill a few years ago. Is there something to playing difficult golf courses that works for you?

KURT KITAYAMA: I'm not sure. I feel like I have a grind-it-out mentality. So when it is tough and it's not going to be a shoot-out, it helps to stay patient and work through whatever challenges that come.

Q. Is there one thing that you can really take from today mentally going ahead into tomorrow?

KURT KITAYAMA: I think just how I fought back, especially at the double on 12 there. I know I'm going to make bogeys. I felt like I kind of made a dumb mistake there on 12, but able to battle back and get it back under par and back to where I was after the front was great.

Q. Tell me something about 12. Where was your head at during that moment?

KURT KITAYAMA: Just laugh it off, because I felt like it was a dumb play that I tried to hit with that chip. I should have just took my medicine with more of a bump shot into the hill instead of trying to lay it on the green.

Just didn't let it affect me mentally.

Q. Is it hard to do that, not let it affect you mentally?

KURT KITAYAMA: Sometimes, yeah, but I mean, out here, you know, it's tough. You make a mistake like that, it can lead to a big number. You just kind of learn from it.