Kurt Kitayama’s three-shot victory Sunday on the 3M Open marked his second profession PGA Tour win.
It was his first alongside his older brother, Daniel.
Daniel Kitayama, who has caddied on and off for his brother through the years, picked up the bag for the primary time this season ultimately week’s Barracuda Championship, which was Kurt’s first occasion after splitting along with his earlier caddie, Tim Tucker. And as Tucker labored spot obligation for his outdated boss, Bryson DeChambeau, at this week’s LIV U.Okay. occasion, Daniel was looping a second straight week for little bro.
“You recognize, the caddie change wasn’t my alternative truly,” Kitayama mentioned Sunday night, “and so I needed to discover somebody that I knew, I needed to discover somebody that I trusted, and my brother’s been on the bag earlier than. We gained twice in Europe. He’s all the time been round me at tournaments and at any time when he can, so I figured that was going to be the very best match to complete the season.”
Kurt Kitayama was T-4 on the John Deere Basic, his final match with Tucker on the bag, earlier than tying for 14th in Tahoe. Tucker was filling in for DeChambeau’s common caddie, Greg Bodine, and instructed Golfweek that after this week, “I’ll see what alternatives there are within the caddie world.” DeChambeau was T-11 on Sunday.
Mentioned Kurt of Daniel: “He helped me keep calm on the market, make good selections, and yeah, simply helps having household on the bag.”
Kitayama’s win moved him to No. 53 in FedExCup factors, so with one regular-season match left, he’s assured to qualify for the playoff opener, the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis.
