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Nedbank Golf Challenge Power Rankings

By Matt Coles

SUN CITY, SOUTH AFRICA - NOVEMBER 11: Lee Westwood of England poses with the trophy after winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Gary Player CC on November 11, 2018 in Sun City, South Africa. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
SUN CITY, SOUTH AFRICA - NOVEMBER 11: Lee Westwood of England poses with the trophy after winning the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Gary Player CC on November 11, 2018 in Sun City, South Africa. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) /
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PARIS, FRANCE – OCTOBER 19: Kurt Kitayama of the USA in action during Day Three of the Amundi Open de France at Golf National on October 19, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE – OCTOBER 19: Kurt Kitayama of the USA in action during Day Three of the Amundi Open de France at Golf National on October 19, 2019 in Paris, France. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images) /

American Kurt Kitayama has catapulted himself right into the top bracket of players on the European Tour in 2019, thanks to five straight top 30 results, including two top-five finishes.

He currently sits in 14th on the Race to Dubai list, but only just sits inside the top 70 in the Official World Golf Rankings, something of a surprise you might think.

However, since the KLM Open in mid-September, Kitayama has been on a tear on the European Tour. He finished T21 in the Netherlands, before ending the BMW PGA Championship week in a tie for 14th.

His biggest performance of the season came at the Italian Open, the most recent of the Rolex Series events, where he took home nearly €400,000 for finished in solo 3rd place.

Kitayama followed that with a 4th place finish at the Amundi Open de France, and in last week’s Turkish Airlines Open, he was one of the five men who only missed out on the title in the playoff.

The American has two European Tour wins to his name this season, having taken the spoils at both the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and the Oman Open in the opening quarter of the campaign.

The World No.69 already has one victory on African soil this season, and another one would push him well into the top five on the Race to Dubai standings. Could the American be a good bet again this week?

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