Kurt Kitayama

Having made his debut in 2019, Kurt Kitayama will make his sixth appearance in The Open at Royal Birkdale thanks to his position inside the top 50 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

The 33-year-old made is first Open weekend appearance at St Andrews in 2022, eventually finishing T72, after finishing runner-up to Xander Schauffele in the Genesis Scottish Open the previous Sunday.

It was those exploits at the Renaissance Club that earned the American the first of three spots on offer as part of the Open Qualifying Series.

Kitayama was back at The Open at Royal Liverpool in 2023, again making the cut to record a T60 finish. His ticket to England’s north-west coast was earned courtesy of achieving his maiden PGA TOUR victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, another part of the Open Qualifying Series.

Kitayama’s best Open finish to date came at Royal Troon in 2024 where he came in a tie for 41st. While he missed out on a place at Royal Portrush last year, 2025 saw Kitayama record his second PGA TOUR success with a one-stroke victory over Sam Stevens at the 3M Open.

Kitayama nearly added a third PGA TOUR victory to his collection in February’s Genesis Invitational, but he ultimately finished in T2 alongside Rory McIlroy, one shot behind winner Jacob Bridgeman.

After coming through the 2018 DP World Tour qualifying school, he won on only his third event on the circuit less than three weeks later. That was the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, and a mere three months after that his second success on the circuit came at the Oman Open, making him the fastest player to win twice on the Tour.

Kitayama’s two best major results have both come at the PGA Championship, where he finished T4 in 2023 and T10 in 2026.