Kitayama holds on for 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 Sunday afternoon at the TPC Twin Cities.
The 32-year-old 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.
US trio David Lipsky, Pierceson Coody and Jake Knapp tied for third along with England's Matt Wallace,, 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.
The Californian, 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.
Kitayama had his approach game in prime form. He hit his second shot on the par-4 14th from a fairway bunker within two feet of the hole for the last of his 20 birdies on the weekend.
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 Texan 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.
Akshay Bhatia (75) and Thorbjorn Olesen (73) were the co-leaders going into Sunday, but the final pairing had a disappointing finish.
Australia's Adam Scott had a final-round 72 to end T53 at 10 under.
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Perth Now
9 hours ago
- Perth Now
Backstroke superstar McKeown keen to find happy place
Australian backstroke star Kaylee McKeown has a chance to nab a world championship gold medal against her arch rival on Tuesday night, but she won't be satisfied unless she has fun while doing it. McKeown did what was needed on Monday night in qualifying second fastest for the 100m backstroke final at the world swimming championships in Singapore. Only one person was faster than McKeown in the semis - American Regan Smith. McKeown is the two-time Olympic champion in the 100m backstroke, but it's Smith who holds the current world record after posting a time of 57.13 seconds in 2024. That edged out McKeown's previous world record effort of 57.33. The pair's showdown in Singapore on Tuesday night is set to be huge, but McKeown doesn't want to adopt a win-at-all-costs mentality. "In Paris I really got consumed by the pressure and the nerves, especially the ones I put on myself," McKeown told Channel 9. "So I've really just taken a step back and I'm just trying to enjoy swimming again. "I love the sport and I don't want to ever lose that. So that's my focus for this week, just finding the love for it. "I don't care if I come last (or) first. I'm just here for a good time." Australia won two golds on the opening night after coming up trumps in the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relays. Bronze was Australia's only reward on Monday, with Alexandria Perkins finishing third in the women's 100m butterfly in a race that was won by star American and world record holder Gretchen Walsh. Perkins' third-placed result was still enough for Australia to retain top spot on the medal standings with two gold, one silver and one bronze to their name. But Canada is right on their tail after 18-year-old superstar Summer McIntosh won her second gold medal of the meet, following up her 400m freestyle success with victory in the 200m individual medley on Monday night. McIntosh is aiming for five individual gold medals across the championships, and she'll take some beating if her early form is anything to go by. Australian Lani Pallister will be up against American great Katie Ledecky in the women's 1500m final on Tuesday night. Moesha Johnson, who won Olympic silver in the 10km open swim for Australia at the 2024 Games in Paris, is also in the 1500m final. Other finals on Tuesday night include the men's 200m freestyle, men's 100m backstroke, and women's 100m breaststroke. Queensland's Sam Short, who won silver in the 400m men's freestyle final on Sunday, will compete in the 800m freestyle heats on Tuesday.
The Advertiser
13 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Bronze for Australia as US strike gold at worlds
Australian Alexandria Perkins has nabbed a bronze medal, Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh continued her winning ways and the virus-stricken US finally broke their gold medal duck on day two of the swimming world championships. Perkins produced a strong finish to snare third place in a hotly-contested women's 100m butterfly final in Singapore on Monday night. World record holder Gretchen Walsh started the race as the hottest of favourites, but the big question was whether she had escaped the gastro carnage that has swept through the US camp. The widespread sickness resulted in the powerful US team ending the opening night without a gold medal, with Australia beating them in both the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relays. Walsh put any sickness doubts to rest on Monday night with a powerful 54.73-second swim that gave the 22-year-old a maiden world championship title and brought the US its first gold of the meet. The American now owns the eight fastest times in the 100m butterfly, with her latest effort the second best of all time. Belgium's Roos Vanotterdijk (55.84) finished second, while Perkins came home fast to nab bronze in a time of 56.33. "I can't be happier with that," an elated Perkins told Channel 9. "It was a new experience being in this final tonight. "I missed out last year at the Olympics, so I'm just really proud of myself for handling my nerves against someone like Gretchen. "She's just incredible. She did a phenomenal job." In what served as an entree to Tuesday night's final, Australian Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown finished second to American arch rival Regan Smith in the women's 100m backstroke semi-final. McIntosh, who is aiming for five individual gold medals at this championships, made it two from two on Monday night. The 18-year-old Canadian won the 400m women's freestyle on Sunday, and backed it up with victory in the 200m individual medley on Monday night. McIntosh won the medley in a time of 2:06.69, fending off a challenge from Alex Walsh (2:08.58) in which they were almost even heading into the last 50m. In the men's 200m freestyle, Australian Flynn Southam finished last in his semi-final heat to miss the final. China's Qin Halyang won his fourth world championships gold medal after coming from behind to defeat Italian Nicolo Martinenghi in the men's 100m breaststroke final. Frenchman Maxime Grousset (22.48) edged Switzerland's Noe Ponti (22.51) in a hotly-contested 50m men's butterfly final. Australia's 16-year-old rising star Sienna Toohey swam a time of 1:07.24 in the 100m breaststroke heats but missed out on a semi-final berth by 0.24 of a second. Toohey was in the same heat as triple Olympian and triple world record holder Lily King, who scraped into the semis with a time of 1:06.93. "That was the fastest heat swim I have ever done," Toohey said. "I knew I was racing Lily King but I was trying to pretend it wasn't her because I didn't want to get freaked out. But it was pretty cool." Australian Alexandria Perkins has nabbed a bronze medal, Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh continued her winning ways and the virus-stricken US finally broke their gold medal duck on day two of the swimming world championships. Perkins produced a strong finish to snare third place in a hotly-contested women's 100m butterfly final in Singapore on Monday night. World record holder Gretchen Walsh started the race as the hottest of favourites, but the big question was whether she had escaped the gastro carnage that has swept through the US camp. The widespread sickness resulted in the powerful US team ending the opening night without a gold medal, with Australia beating them in both the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relays. Walsh put any sickness doubts to rest on Monday night with a powerful 54.73-second swim that gave the 22-year-old a maiden world championship title and brought the US its first gold of the meet. The American now owns the eight fastest times in the 100m butterfly, with her latest effort the second best of all time. Belgium's Roos Vanotterdijk (55.84) finished second, while Perkins came home fast to nab bronze in a time of 56.33. "I can't be happier with that," an elated Perkins told Channel 9. "It was a new experience being in this final tonight. "I missed out last year at the Olympics, so I'm just really proud of myself for handling my nerves against someone like Gretchen. "She's just incredible. She did a phenomenal job." In what served as an entree to Tuesday night's final, Australian Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown finished second to American arch rival Regan Smith in the women's 100m backstroke semi-final. McIntosh, who is aiming for five individual gold medals at this championships, made it two from two on Monday night. The 18-year-old Canadian won the 400m women's freestyle on Sunday, and backed it up with victory in the 200m individual medley on Monday night. McIntosh won the medley in a time of 2:06.69, fending off a challenge from Alex Walsh (2:08.58) in which they were almost even heading into the last 50m. In the men's 200m freestyle, Australian Flynn Southam finished last in his semi-final heat to miss the final. China's Qin Halyang won his fourth world championships gold medal after coming from behind to defeat Italian Nicolo Martinenghi in the men's 100m breaststroke final. Frenchman Maxime Grousset (22.48) edged Switzerland's Noe Ponti (22.51) in a hotly-contested 50m men's butterfly final. Australia's 16-year-old rising star Sienna Toohey swam a time of 1:07.24 in the 100m breaststroke heats but missed out on a semi-final berth by 0.24 of a second. Toohey was in the same heat as triple Olympian and triple world record holder Lily King, who scraped into the semis with a time of 1:06.93. "That was the fastest heat swim I have ever done," Toohey said. "I knew I was racing Lily King but I was trying to pretend it wasn't her because I didn't want to get freaked out. But it was pretty cool." Australian Alexandria Perkins has nabbed a bronze medal, Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh continued her winning ways and the virus-stricken US finally broke their gold medal duck on day two of the swimming world championships. Perkins produced a strong finish to snare third place in a hotly-contested women's 100m butterfly final in Singapore on Monday night. World record holder Gretchen Walsh started the race as the hottest of favourites, but the big question was whether she had escaped the gastro carnage that has swept through the US camp. The widespread sickness resulted in the powerful US team ending the opening night without a gold medal, with Australia beating them in both the men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relays. Walsh put any sickness doubts to rest on Monday night with a powerful 54.73-second swim that gave the 22-year-old a maiden world championship title and brought the US its first gold of the meet. The American now owns the eight fastest times in the 100m butterfly, with her latest effort the second best of all time. Belgium's Roos Vanotterdijk (55.84) finished second, while Perkins came home fast to nab bronze in a time of 56.33. "I can't be happier with that," an elated Perkins told Channel 9. "It was a new experience being in this final tonight. "I missed out last year at the Olympics, so I'm just really proud of myself for handling my nerves against someone like Gretchen. "She's just incredible. She did a phenomenal job." In what served as an entree to Tuesday night's final, Australian Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown finished second to American arch rival Regan Smith in the women's 100m backstroke semi-final. McIntosh, who is aiming for five individual gold medals at this championships, made it two from two on Monday night. The 18-year-old Canadian won the 400m women's freestyle on Sunday, and backed it up with victory in the 200m individual medley on Monday night. McIntosh won the medley in a time of 2:06.69, fending off a challenge from Alex Walsh (2:08.58) in which they were almost even heading into the last 50m. In the men's 200m freestyle, Australian Flynn Southam finished last in his semi-final heat to miss the final. China's Qin Halyang won his fourth world championships gold medal after coming from behind to defeat Italian Nicolo Martinenghi in the men's 100m breaststroke final. Frenchman Maxime Grousset (22.48) edged Switzerland's Noe Ponti (22.51) in a hotly-contested 50m men's butterfly final. Australia's 16-year-old rising star Sienna Toohey swam a time of 1:07.24 in the 100m breaststroke heats but missed out on a semi-final berth by 0.24 of a second. Toohey was in the same heat as triple Olympian and triple world record holder Lily King, who scraped into the semis with a time of 1:06.93. "That was the fastest heat swim I have ever done," Toohey said. "I knew I was racing Lily King but I was trying to pretend it wasn't her because I didn't want to get freaked out. But it was pretty cool."
Sydney Morning Herald
13 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Two down, three to go: McIntosh wants to equal Phelps, but she'll have to beat another GOAT first
Now, fresh off winning three individual gold medals in Paris, she has declared her bold ambition to take out five individual world titles this week. She's nearly halfway there, with the 200m butterfly, 800m freestyle and 400m individual medley still to come. 'My goal was to get my hand on the wall first, so to get that done is good,' McIntosh said. 'I'm not super happy with the time, but honestly, at a world championships, my goal is just to go as fast as I can against my competitors. 'Still happy with the gold and hoping to keep up my streak next time.' Since the world championships began in 1973, only one swimmer – Phelps – has claimed five individual golds in a single meet. Katie Ledecky won four in Kazan in 2015, while Phelps' quintuple of individual wins in Melbourne 2007 was the prelude to his eight-gold masterclass at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. McIntosh's most difficult assignment will be the 800m freestyle against Ledecky, widely regarded as the greatest female swimmer of all-time, on Saturday. The Canadian is the only swimmer to beat Ledecky across the distance in 15 years and it will be a mouthwatering duel. For swimmers at this level, the challenge isn't the racing; it's the recovery. On Sunday, McIntosh had just 22 minutes between her 400m freestyle final and the 200m IM semi-final. Throw in warm-ups and warm-downs and media commitments and refuelling, it's as arduous as it sounds. McIntosh's performances at Canada's trials were electric. She broke three world records in the same meet, taking Titmus' 400m freestyle mark, plus all-time bests in the 200m and 400m individual medleys. No woman had achieved that many world records at a single meet since the Netherlands' Inge de Bruijn at Sydney 2000. Meanwhile, Australia's Alex Perkins picked up her first longcourse medal after finishing third in the women's 100m butterfly. World record holder Gretchen Walsh overcame illness to win in 54.73, ahead of Belgium's Roos Vanotterdijk (55.84) and Perkins (56.33). 'I couldn't be happier,' Perkins said. 'I tried not to expect anything going into that final. 'I think [my improvements] have probably just come from the confidence in racing and having that self belief and backing myself a little bit more.' Australia still leads the medal tally after two days, with two golds, one silver and a bronze. They will look to extend that advantage on Tuesday when Kaylee McKeown lines up for the 100m backstroke - the event she has won at the past two Olympics. Loading McKeown is keeping expectations in check, despite having beaten American Regan Smith multiple times in the past. Smith qualified 0.23 seconds faster for the final, but both swimmers looked to have something in reserve. 'I'm just here for a good time,' McKeown said. 'I don't really care if I come first or if I come last. I just want to find the love for the sport again. 'I didn't actually want to do the 100. I wanted to come in and do 200 and relays.'
