Kurt Kitayama wins 3M Open, beating
Sam Stevens by 1 for his 2nd PGA Tour victory
[July 28, 2025]
By DAVE CAMPBELL
BLAINE, Minn. (AP) — Kurt Kitayama finished a sizzling weekend with
a final-round 65 to win the 3M Open on Sunday, beating Sam Stevens
by one stroke for his second PGA Tour victory.
Kitayama, who shot a career-best and tournament-record-tying 60 on
Saturday to enter the final round within one of the leaders, birdied
six of the first eight holes to build a cushion on a 91-degree
afternoon at the TPC Twin Cities.
“Getting off to a start like that kind of helps settle you down,”
Kitayama said. “Final round, second-to-last group, there’s
definitely some nerves.”
Kitayama took bogey on the par-3 17th hole for the third straight
day, which shrunk his lead to one while playing in the
second-to-last group. Stevens was one group ahead and failed to
birdie the reachable par-5 18th.
After hitting his approach on the closing hole into a greenside
bunker, Kitayama safely blasted to 18 feet and easily two-putted for
par, finishing at 23-under 261 with his older brother, Daniel,
caddying for only the second time this season.
“He helped me stay calm out there, make good decisions,” Kitayama
said. “It just helps having family on the bag.”
Matt Wallace, David Lipsky, Pierceson Coody and Jake Knapp tied for
third, three strokes back.
Kitayama, who previously won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay
Hill in 2023, got a 500-point boost in the FedEx Cup standings to
move inside the top 70 and secure a spot in the playoffs. He was
projected to jump from 110th to 53rd.
Kitayama, who tied for sixth at the 3M Open last year, has missed
seven cuts this season. He tied for fifth twice, at the John Deere
Classic and the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. This win was projected to bump
his world ranking from 97th to 39th.
The 32-year-old native of Chico, California, had his approach game
in prime form. He hit a 7-iron from a fairway bunker on the par-4
14th from a fairway bunker within 2 feet of the hole for the last of
his 20 birdies on the weekend, the most in a PGA Tour event since
2003.
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Kurt Kitayama, left, is presented with a trophy after winning the 3M
Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club Sunday, July 27,
2025, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Stevens made five birdies on the back nine,
continuing his strong season that includes three top-three finishes.
He was second at the Farmers Insurance Open. The 29-year-old native
of Fort Worth, Texas, is still seeking his first win, but this
finish pushes him from 44th to 29th in the FedEx Cup with one event
left in the regular season.
“With Kurt shooting 29 on the front nine, it’s like, well, I’m six
or seven back, whatever it was at the time. I can just play as
freely and as aggressively as I want to,” Stevens said. “I really
didn’t feel that many nerves on the back nine, which is good.
Normally I get very nervous, so I had a lot of peace out there
today.”
Knapp, playing with Stevens, was in contention until his second shot
on the 18th splashed into the water, leading to his only bogey of
the day in his third top-five finish this year.
Akshay Bhatia and Thorbjorn Olesen were the co-leaders going into
Sunday, but the final pairing had a disappointing finish. Bhatia
shot 75 and tied for 25th, and Olesen shot 73 to fall to a six-way
tie for 14th that included first-round leader Adam Svensson.
Svensson, whose 60 on Thursday was matched two days later by
Kitayama, bounced back from a 75 on Friday with a 68-65 weekend.
Defending champion Jhonattan Vegas had his best round of the
tournament (67) and finished in a tie for 44th at 11-under.
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