Defending 3M champ Kurt Kitayama hopes to tap into last year's magic

Kurt Kitayama is in fine shape in the FedEx Cup playoff race heading into his title defense at the 3M Open this week in Blaine, Minn.

Thanks to 11 straight made cuts and four top-10s on the year, including a T2 at the signature Genesis Invitational, Kitayama sits 32nd in the points' standings. The top 30 players after the first two playoff events next month qualify for the Tour Championship.

But Kitayama was 110th in points this time last year when he arrived at TPC Twin Cities. Landing in the winner's circle that week boosted him into the playoffs, and he finished just five spots out of the Tour Championship field.

More importantly, Kitayama said Tuesday, it propelled him into the 2026 season.

"Yeah, just being able to finish the season that well and having that kind of roll into this year definitely helped because all year last year I was struggling," Kitayama said. "Felt like I was close though. Then for it to finally click after this week and then onwards kind of rolled into this season and help me get off to a good start."

Kitayama narrowly made the cut only to shoot up the leaderboard with an 11-under-par round of 60 on Saturday. He polished off the comeback win with a Sunday 65.

He said Tuesday that he went to the range after the second round last year searching for something that would aid his swing.

"Just happened that that weekend it worked out," Kitayama said. "Not necessarily (a fix) that's like long-term. But I honestly didn't know that after the range session on Friday, I didn't know that was going to be something that was going to stick. Just something that happened."

He also tied for sixth in the event in 2024, and has gone a combined 36 under par in his two starts.

"Yeah, it's nice to know that I have good results here," Kitayama said. "To come back to a place that I've played well at definitely helps to fall back on what I've done in the past and know that even if the game doesn't feel that good, that you can still play well."

The 3M Open organizers perhaps knew what they were doing when they put Kitayama in the same group as PGA Tour rookie Jackson Koivun for the first two rounds.

Koivun's caddie, David Flynn, was a teammate of Kitayama's for multiple years on the UNLV men's golf team. Now he's toting the bag of the former No. 1-ranked amateur in the world.

"We went to school together ... Should be fun," Kitayama said. "It's fun, he'll be walking around the course when we're playing a practice round, hang out, so looking forward to it."

--Field Level Media