Kurt Kitayama is a contender in the final round of the 2025 3M Open, looking to pick up his second PGA Tour win in Minnesota. A win here would be Kitayama's second on the PGA Tour after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2023.
Kitayama is 32 years old, and he had status on the PGA Tour this season after finishing in the top 125 in the 2024 FedEx Cup points standings and also as a 2024 tour winner.
However, for Kitayama, his journey to the PGA Tour is a remarkable story.
Kitayama was born in Chico, California. He went to UNLV for school and college golf.
Kitayama is hitting his prime
Kurt Kitayama has been successful at every level, including as an amateur and after he turned pro in 2015.
Kitayama never won on the Korn Ferry Tour, but he does have two wins on the DP World Tour, at the 2018 Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open and the 2019 Oman Open.
In the 2020-21 season, Kitayama finished 41st in the standings and earned more than $2.5 million in money to secure his place on Tour.
Coming into this week, Kitayama was ranked 110th in FedEx Cup points. He's currently ranked 97th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He earned his way into this event through his status achieved this season on the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup points list last year.
In his personal life, Kitayama is single.
What a win at the 3M Open means
With a win today, Kitayama would earn the benefits of being a PGA Tour winner, including an extension on his two-year PGA Tour exemption. He would also earn a 2026 Masters invitation and an exemption into to the PGA Championship. And, according to the 2025 3M Open payout, he would win $1.512 million to top it all off.
