Despite some late-round stumbles, Kurt Kitayama wouldn’t be stopped. 

With a third-round 60, the 32-year-old Californian got near the top of the 3M Open leaderboard and rode the momentum into Sunday, taking the lead with five birdies in his first six holes. 

He never relinquished that lead. 

MORE: Final results, payouts from TPC Twin Cities

Kitayama, playing the final two days at 18 under par to finish at 23 under overall, claimed a one-stroke victory at TPC Twin Cities over Sam Stevens. It’s his first win since the 2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational and second on Tour. 

Things got a little precarious shortly after making the turn, though. On the par-4 11th, Kitayama pulled his tee shot​​, which was a problem all day for him, ranking 56th in driving accuracy for the week by hitting 60% of his fairways. Kitayama made bogey and in the group ahead, Jake Knapp, who placed T3 with Matt Wallace, David Lipsky and Pierceson Coody, made two straight birdies, cutting the lead to one. 

Kitayama birdied the following hole and added another on the par-4 14th. But a three-putt bogey on the par-3 17th sent him to the par-5 18th tee box leading Stevens, who parred his 72nd hole, by only one. Kitayama plopped his drive in the fairway, but hit his approach into the greenside bunker with the ball settling on a downslope. He knocked it out of the sand to 17 feet and two-putted for victory. 

The win marks a comeback for Kitayama. Since winning at Bay Hill two years ago, he had fallen from 19th in the world rankings to No. 97. In the last two seasons, he has six top 10s in 41 starts, and didn’t even earn a spot in the Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier this year. 

However, just playing on Tour, let alone winning, was a rollercoaster achievement for Kitayama. Following his college career at UNLV, he struggled on the Korn Ferry Tour and he played around the world for years, teeing it up on the Asian Developmental Tour, PGA Tour China, PGA Tour Canada, Sunshine Tour, Japan Tour, Asian Tour and DP World Tour before finally earning a Tour card for the 2021-22 season. 

Now, with his win in Minnesota, he will get into the FedExCup playoffs (entering the week No. 110 in the standings, he’s now 53rd), earns a two-year exemption on Tour and collects $1.5 million with the win, nearly a half-million more than he had pocketed all season. 

Even through the late shakiness on Sunday, there was hardly a doubt he’d leave TPC Twin Cities without the trophy. 


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kurt Kitayama Goes Scorched Earth Over Final Two Rounds to Win 3M Open.

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