Kurt Kitayama defeated Sam Stevens by one stroke at the 2025 3M Open. This is his second career win on the PGA Tour, and his brother was on the bag this week.
After three rounds Akshay Batia and Thorbjorn Olesen were tied for the lead at 18-under. Olesen made a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth hole during his third round. Behind them sat four golfers one stroke behind.
Kitayama was one of those four golfers; he had tied the newly minted course record by shooting a 60 with 12 birdies. During the opening round on Thursday, Canadian Adam Svensson shot a bogey-free 11-under round of 60 to set the course record (we called it in our preview when we sent out the newsletter!). His round included nine birdies and a near fifty-foot walk-off eagle on the 18th hole. He ultimately finished T14 for his highest finish of the season.
On Saturday, Kitayama shot a seven-under-28 on the front nine. On the back nine, he had a chance at a 59, but a bogey on the 17th hole meant he’d be forced to make an eagle on the 18th hole to join the exclusive club. He made birdie and had to settle for a round of 60 (-11). He jumped from T44 at the start of the third round to T3 by the end of the day.
Kitayama carried his momentum from Saturday to Sunday, shooting a six-under-29 on the opening nine holes. He is the first player since Charley Hoffman to post back-to-back sub-30 scores on the same nine; Hoffman did so in 2015 on the back nine at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. The back nine saw Kitayama shoot an even-par-36 after making two birdies and two bogeys. Kitayama sat at 110th on the FedExCup points list and was in danger of losing his PGA Tour card. With this win he moves to 53rd on the list and receives a two-year exemption for the PGA Tour.
On Saturday and Sunday, Kitayama made 20 birdies, which is the most by a winner on the weekend since Hideki Matsuyama made 19 during his win at the 2025 Sentry.
For Stevens, this is his second runner-up finish and third top-10 result of the season. He jumped 17 spots in the FedExCup points list to number 27.
Next week is the final regular season event before the FedExCup playoffs begin. The Wyndham Championship will be the last chance players have to get into the top 70 for the playoffs. Aaron Rai will look to defend his title heading into the post-season.
