2025 3M Open leaderboard, grades: Kurt Kitayama punctuates dominant weekend with his second career victory

Kitayama grabbed his second PGA Tour victory -- first since 2023 -- by going low with a 65 on Sunday

Kurt Kitayama began the weekend at the 2025 3M Open eight shots back of the leader, having made the cut by just one stroke after the first two rounds. The former UNLV standout then produced one of the best weekend performances of the 2025 season to secure his second career win on the PGA Tour. Kitayama charged into a tie for third on Saturday with an 11-under 60, matching the course record set Thursday by Adam Svensson. Then he backed it up with a final-round 65 to pull away from the field in Minnesota.

With the win, Kitayama jumps from 110th to 53rd in the FedEx Cup standings, locking up a spot in the first playoff event at the St. Jude Classic and giving himself a great chance at pushing into the top 50, which qualify for the BMW Championship and secure a spot in all eight signature events next season. 

Kitayama immediately picked up where he left off after his sensational Saturday round, scoring birdie on his first three holes of the day, including a bit of theft on the 3rd when he popped up a chip from the short-side rough and had it drop in the hole. 

He added two more birdies on Nos. 5 and 6, quickly taking a three-shot lead over the field that he never gave back. For the second consecutive day, Kitayama broke 30 on the front nine, this time with a 6-under 30, and while he would finally drop a shot on the 11th, that was his lone blemish of the day. 

It was another sensational ball-striking round from Kitayama, who gained nearly 10 strokes on the field with his approach play as he hit an outrageous six different approach shots to inside 6 feet on his round. That removed any stress he might feel on the greens, and any time someone got close to him on the leaderboard, he had a swift response. 

Perhaps his best shot of the day came on the par-4 14th when he drove it in the fairway bunker off the tee while holding a two-shot lead and promptly threw another dart at the flag to set up his eighth birdie of the day and move him to 24 under. 

Kitayama finally had to deal with some of that stress with the putter on the difficult par-3 17th, as he dropped his second shot of the day with a three-putt bogey from 65 feet to fall back to 23 under. 

Luckily for Kitayama, his two closest competitors -- playing in front of him -- were making a mess of the par-5 18th. Sam Stevens, who suddenly found himself just one back of the lead, drove it in the rough and then compounded his issues by laying up into the rough again. Jake Knapp, two back of Kitayama at the time, hit an iron from the fairway that looked dead at the flagstick ... until it came up a yard short of the green and splashed down in the pond. 

Stevens found the rough for the third time with his approach, and while he gave it a run at the hole, he settled for par, giving Kitayama a chance to breathe and close out a win with a par of his own. He made it interesting, firing his second into the right greenside bunker and leaving himself a bunker shot off a downslope towards the water for his third, but he got that out solidly with 17 feet and two putts necessary to close out the win.

Kitayama is back in the winner's circle for the first time in two years, and the victory turns around what had been a difficult year on the PGA Tour. He had just two top 10s coming into this week, but with one sensational weekend, the 32-year-old turned a season of struggle into one with much more promise. Grade: A+

Here are the rest of the notables on the leaderboard at the 2025 3M Open.

2. Sam Stevens (-22): Stevens closed out his final round with a flurry, making five birdies on the back nine, but he'll be kicking himself over walking off the 18th with a par. A birdie there would have tied him with Kitayama and applied some real stress for him coming home. Even with a one-shot lead, Kitayama made it an adventure down the stretch. Still, Stevens continued a terrific season with his ninth top 25 finish and third top 10, moving inside the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings (27th) to create an inside track to the Tour Championship. Grade: A-

T3. Jake Knapp (-21): Knapp continues to knock on the door for a second PGA Tour win, but his bogey on the 18th will sting him for a bit. Like Stevens, there are some long-term silver linings to review as he's now inside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings (47th) with the T3 finish. If he can stay there over the next two weeks, he'll get to the BMW Championship and lock up a spot in all eight signature events next season, which is a big deal for any young player on Tour. Grade: B+

T10. Chris Gotterup (-18): Perhaps he ran out of gas after three straight weeks of playing in contention, but Gotterup didn't have his A-game on Sunday, as he was only able to produce a 2-under 69. Still, it's a third straight top 10 finish on Tour moves him to 20th in the FedEx Cup, giving him a great chance at making it to East Lake at the end of August. He's making a late run at the right time to not only get himself into all the big events next year but give United States Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley plenty to think about as captains picks loom in a couple weeks. Grade: B

T12. Wyndham Clark (-17): Another solid week for Clark as he tries to climb out of the hole he dug for himself with some early season struggles and destroyed lockers at Oakmont. He's up to 48th in the FedEx Cup standings with his third straight finish in the top 12 and seems to have found something with his swing that's working. Clark will obviously want to keep the vibes rolling; he'll play next week at his namesake tournament, the Wyndham Championship, as he tries to claw his way into the Tour Championship somehow. Grade: B

T14. Thorbjørn Olesen (-16): The final pairing had a disastrous Sunday and disappeared from TV coverage by the back nine. Olesen was at the top of the leaderboard after Friday and Saturday, but his hopes of becoming the first Danish winner on the PGA Tour were dashed by a 73. Making matters worse, slipping all the way back to T14 keeps him outside the top 100, and he'll have work to do at the Wyndham next week to secure his status for 2026. Grade: D+

T25. Akshay Bhatia (-14): Bhatia was lost off the tee from the start on Sunday, spraying drivers left on the first three holes, leading to a pair of bogeys. He never got things back on track as and Olesen unfortunately fed off each other's negative energy in that final pairing and backed out of contention. Bhatia made seven bogeys in the final round to drop from T1 to T25, and he went from having a great chance to get in the top 30 to still being on the bubble for a top 50 spot at 44th in the FedEx Cup. Grade: D

[Jul 27, 2025 at 5:08 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Stevens has moved ahead of Jake Knapp for second at 22 under, two behind Kurt Kitayama, after making three straight birdies on Nos. 14, 15 and 16. If Stevens can hold on to second alone, he would move inside the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings and give himself an inside track to get to the Tour Championship. 

[Jul 27, 2025 at 4:43 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

The drama at the 3M Open lasted all of three holes, as Kurt Kitayama answered his bogey at the 11th with a birdie on No. 12 and another on the 14th to get to 24 under and move three ahead of Jake Knapp once again. His birdie on the 14th came from his sixth approach shot inside 6 feet on the day, this time coming from a fairway bunker as he just continues to throw darts at TPC Twin Cities and is now four holes away from the win. 

[Jul 27, 2025 at 4:27 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Like Matt Wallace earlier, David Lipsky made a big move on Sunday that could have some major implications for him next season. Lipsky matched Wallace for the round of the day with a 64 and is also at 20 under in the clubhouse, good for T3 currently. Lipsky came into the week 115th in the FedEx Cup standings and would move to 86th if the leaderboard holds. Wallace was 123rd and would move to 91st. With the top 100 maintaining full time status, those could be final rounds that get them a full card again next year. They also will have an outside chance at the playoffs with a strong performance at the Wyndham, but at the very least they've moved one step closer to status next season. 

[Jul 27, 2025 at 4:11 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

A birdie on the par-5 12th has Knapp at 21 under, just one off Kitayama's lead. The problem for Knapp is Kitayama is now on the 12th and is just short and right in two, meaning he'll have a great chance at getting back to two clear. Still, for the first time since early on the front nine, there's some pressure on Kitayama and a bit of drama about who will lift the 3M Open trophy later today. 

[Jul 27, 2025 at 4:04 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

It took 11 holes, but Kitayama finally dropped a shot on Sunday. After getting to 23 under, Kitayama bogeyed the par-4 11th to drop back to 22 under, just two ahead of clubhouse leader Matt Wallace and two others on the course. Wallace posted 64 and 20 under in the clubhouse, and while that won't hold it is enough currently to get him inside the coveted top 100 to retain status for next year. Kitayama's primary concern is William Mouw and Jake Knapp, as they're still on the course at 20 under and could apply some pressure if Kitayama stalls at all in the middle of his back nine. 

[Jul 27, 2025 at 3:15 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Another close approach on the par-3 8th set Kitayama up for his sixth birdie of the day, moving him to 23 under for the tournament and four shots clear of Matt Wallace and Jake Knapp in second. Kitayama has an average proximity to the hole of 10'8" so far on Sunday, as he hasn't even needed to get the putter very hot because he's constantly leaving short looks for birdie. 

[Jul 27, 2025 at 2:31 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

A fourth birdie in his first five holes has Kurt Kitayama three clear of Jake Knapp, Takumi Kanaya and William Mouw. After opening with three straight birdies, including a gift with a chip-in on the 3rd, he finally made a par on the 4th to end his birdie streak. He got back on the birdie train quickly, though, throwing a dart at the 5th after a perfect drive, setting up another tap-in birdie to move to -21 and push his solo lead to three. With the final pairing going the wrong way, it seems like someone in that Knapp, Kanaya and Mouw group is going to have to be the one to push Kitayama and try to apply some pressure on the back nine to prevent a runaway win. 

[Jul 27, 2025 at 2:08 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Bhatia is lost off the tee right now, spraying his first three drives well left. He made bogey on the first and a scrambling par on the second, but he looks headed for at least one more dropped shot on the third after bounding off the cart path and into a pond. He'll have his work cut out just to make bogey and he's already fallen to three off the lead of Kurt Kitayama, who stole a birdie on the 3rd with another hole-out from the rough this weekend. 

[Jul 27, 2025 at 1:50 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Kitayama is now the solo leader at 19 under as he continues his red-hot play at TPC Twin Cities. After an 11-under 60 on Saturday to move into a tie for third, Kitayama has opened his round with back-to-back birdies and is the solo leader at 19 under. We'll see if the heater ends at some point, but Kitayama is showing no signs of slowing down right now and is once again throwing darts at flagsticks. 

[Jul 27, 2025 at 1:44 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Early birdies from Kitayama on No. 1 and Knapp on No. 2 have moved them into a 4-way tie for the lead with Akshay Bhatia and Thorbjørn Olesen, who just began their final round. Matt Wallace is the biggest mover on the first page of the leaderboard so far, as he's jumped into T5 at 17 under after a -4 thru 8 start to his round. We are going to see fireworks at TPC Twin Cities today and the top of the leaderboard figures to be fluid all the way to the finish. 

[Jul 27, 2025 at 12:15 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

A 7-under 64 is the early marker for low round on Sunday, as Kevin Roy birdied the last to get into the clubhouse at 13 under for the tournament. The leaders will be on the course in just over an hour and Roy's 64 provides an idea of what's out there for those chasing a win. 

[Jul 27, 2025 at 11:12 am ET · Robby Kalland]

As expected, scoring conditions are terrific once again and Greyson Sigg is out to the fast start of the early tee times. With the leaders still more than two hours away from teeing off, Sigg fired a 5-under 30 on the front nine to move up into the top 20 currently. It seems like something in the mid-60s will be mandatory to win today at TPC Twin Cities and anyone within four or five of the lead will have some hope of producing a low round and giing themselves a chance.