Kitayama wins 3M Open, beating Stevens by 1

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. 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. ___ AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf