Kurt Kitayama completed a scorching 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 ultimate spherical inside one of many leaders, birdied six of the primary eight holes to construct a cushion on a 91-degree afternoon on the TPC Twin Cities.
Kitayama took bogey on the par-three seventeenth for the third straight day, which shrunk his result in one whereas enjoying within the second-to-last group. Stevens was one group forward and didn’t birdie the reachable par-five 18th. After hitting his method on the closing gap right into a greenside bunker, Kitayama safely blasted to 18 toes and simply two-putted for par, ending at 23 beneath.
Matt Wallace, David Lipsky, Pierceson Coody and Jake Knapp tied for third, three strokes again.
Kitayama, who beforehand gained the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in 2023, received a 500-point increase within the FedEx Cup standings to maneuver inside the highest 70 and safe a spot within the playoffs. He was projected to leap from one hundred and tenth to 53rd.
Kurt Kitayama traces up a putt on the 18th inexperienced through the last spherical of the 3M Open
Kitayama, who tied for sixth on the 3M Open final yr, has missed seven cuts this season. He tied for fifth twice, on the John Deere Traditional and the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
The 32-year-old native of Chico, California, had his method sport in prime type. He hit his second shot on the par-four 14th from a fairway bunker inside two toes of the opening for the final of his 20 birdies on the weekend.
Stevens made 5 birdies on the again 9, persevering with his robust season that features three top-three finishes. He was second on the Farmers Insurance coverage Open. The 29-year-old native of Fort Value, Texas, remains to be searching for his first win, however this end pushes him from forty fourth to twenty ninth within the FedEx Cup with one occasion left within the common season.
Akshay Bhatia and Thorbjorn Olesen have been the co-leaders going into Sunday, however the last pairing had a disappointing end. Bhatia shot 75 and tied for twenty fifth, and Olesen shot 73 to fall to a tie for 14th.
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