Kurt Kitayama defeated Sam Stevens by one stroke to win the 3M Open on Sunday, capping a scorching weekend. It was Kitayama’s second PGA TOUR triumph.
On a 91-degree afternoon at the TPC Twin Cities, Kitayama entered the final round within one of the leads after shooting a career-best and tournament-record-tying 60 on Saturday. He built a cushion by birdieing six of the first eight holes.
“It sort of calms you down to get off to such a start. There are undoubtedly some nerves in the final round, second-to-last group.” Kitayama said.
Playing in the second-to-last group, Kitayama made bogey on the par-3 17th hole for the third consecutive day, cutting his lead to one. The reachable par-5 18th was missed by Stevens, who was one group ahead.
With his older brother, Daniel, caddying for just the second time this season, Kitayama finished at 23-under 261 after safely blasting to 18 feet and easily two-putting for par after hitting his approach on the closing hole into a greenside bunker.
“He assisted me in making wise choices and maintaining my composure. Having relatives on the bag just makes things easier.” Kitayama said.
Three strokes behind Matt Wallace, Pierceson Coody, Jake Knapp, and David Lipsky, they were tied for 3rd place.
A 500-point gain in the FedExCup standings allowed Kitayama, who previously won the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in 2023, to climb inside the top 70 and earn a position in the FedExCup Playoffs. It was predicted that he will move up from 110th to 53rd.
This season, Kitayama, who finished in 6th place at the 3M Open the previous year, has missed 7 cuts. At THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson and the John Deere Classic, he tied for 5th place twice. His global ranking was predicted to rise from 97th to 39th as a result of this victory.
The Chico, California-born 32-year-old was at the top of his game when it came to approach. The final of his 20 birdies for the weekend, the most in a PGA TOUR event since 2003, came on the 14th par-4 when he hammered a 7-iron from a fairway bunker within 2 feet of the hole.
It’s like, “Well, I’m six or seven back,” or whatever it was at the time, when Kurt shoots 29 on the front nine. All I had to do is play as freely and violently as I like. It’s wonderful that I didn’t feel particularly nervous on the back nine. I had a lot of calm today because normally I get really anxious.” Stevens said.
Knapp was in contention while playing with Stevens until his second shot on the 18th went into the water, resulting in his sole bogey of the day and his third top five spot this year.
Thorbjørn Olesen and Akshay Bhatia were the co-leaders heading into Sunday, but the last pairing ended poorly. Olesen shot 73 to drop into a six-way tie for 14th place, which included Adam Svensson, the first-round leader, while Bhatia shot 75 to tie for 25th.
Svensson recovered from a 75 on Friday with a 68-65 weekend after Kitayama matched his 60 on Thursday two days later.
In a tie for 44th place at 11-under, defending champion Jhonattan Vegas recorded his best round of the competition (67).
