Taylor Pendrith leads the 2024 Shriners Children’s Open in windy Las Vegas

As a Las Vegas resident and former UNLV golfer, Kurt Kitayama has seen just about it all at TPC Summerlin. But even he admitted, “Wasn’t really ready for it.”

He was referring to the strong wind conditions that turned TPC Summerlin into a house of horrors on Friday. But Kitayama completed one of the day’s rounds, posting a bogey-free 3-under 68, improving to 8-under 134 and being able to sit back and relax at home until his late start time on Saturday.

When asked if he envisioned a bogey-free round before teeing off, he replied: “No, absolutely not. I thought it was going to play really hard and I had to limit big numbers. But luckily I missed in the right place; was able to just figure it out.”

That included the seventh hole, his 16th hole of the day, where he hit a 17-footer for par. “That was a big putt,” he said.

Kitayama, who won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2023, made the weekend for the sixth time in his last seven cuts and is well-positioned to improve on just two top-10 finishes this season and perhaps win for the second time and to do so in his adopted hometown.