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February 28 - March 03
Al Mouj Golf, Muscat, Oman
$1,750,000
Kurt Kitayama carded a six under par round of 66 to lead the Oman Open after the first round at Al Mouj Golf.
“I'm delighted with that. Conditions were pretty tough, so to be bogey free was really good. My putting was great, I had great speed. I had a great putt on 17 from 60 feet to leave a tap-in. Then my last putt over a ridge was great. I made a few putts outside ten feet so that was really nice."
The American, who earned his card for 2019 at Qualifying School and then won his first title in just his third European Tour start at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open at Anahita, parred the first five holes and then birdied the sixth and eighth holes to make the turn two under par.
He then birdied the 11 th and eagled the 12 th to join early pace-setters Scott Jamieson and Yusaku Miyazato on five under par before taking the outright lead with his fourth birdie of the day on the 16 th hole.
“On 11 I drained a 40-footer. Hit a great second into the 12 th , giving myself 15 feet and I was able to drain that. I got a little lucky out there. I made quite a few putts, so hopefully I can do that tomorrow too. Hopefully we can take advantage of some calmer weather in the morning.”
Seven golfers share fourth place on four under par, including Alexander Levy, who came fourth at last year's Oman Open, and 2016 Ryder Cup player Thomas Pieters, who is making his first appearance at this event.
Defending champion Joost Luiten, who flew in from the WGC-Mexico Championship on Tuesday morning, made a strong start to his title defence with a three under par first round.
“It was a pretty good day, I think. I started the day with a bogey on the first, I fought back hard to get to four under. I'm a bit annoyed with the bogey on 17 but, overall, I don't think I can complain too much.
“The greens are rolling so pure. I made a couple of nice putts. It was tricky with the wind out there, but once you got on the greens you could make some nice putts.”
Hugo Leon, Zander Lombard and Tom Murray will finish their first rounds on Friday morning after play was suspended due to darkness - the trio have just the 18th hole to play.
