The American won his second European Tour title in Muscat
Kurt Kitayama Wins Oman Open
Two birdies in a row on holes 16 and 17 saw Kurt Kitayama come out on top of a packed leaderboard in Oman.
The American won his second European Tour title in just his 11th start after victory in Mauritius in December.
Kitayama shot a closing 70 (-2) to beat Jorge Campillo, Clement Sordet, Fabrizio Zanotti and Max Keifer by one at Al Mouj Golf.
Both Kiefer and Zanotti were ahead at times late in the final round but a four-putt double bogey at the par-5 14th, his third double of the day, detailed Zanotti’s chances, whilst Keifer bogeyed 17 to drop a crucial shot.
Sordet got to seven under with a hole to play thanks to a birdie on 17 but gave the shot back with a three-putt bogey on the last.
Kitayama played 33 holes on Sunday after a weather delay and started his third round with a quadruple-bogey 8 before two bogeys in succession followed.
“This one feels really good because when I won the first one I was playing really well and it just felt like it was coming,” the 26-year-old said.
“This week I came in off three missed cuts and not having good weekends in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It feels great to grind through all of that.
“The way we started that third round, I was like, ‘can we stop right now?’. It gave me a refresh and it was incredible coming back.”
He is expected to rise to a career-high 104th in the world.
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Oman Open Leaderboard:
1 Kurt Kitayama (USA) -7
T2 Max Keifer (Ger) -6
T2 Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) -6
T2 Clement Sordet (Fra) -6
T2 Jorge Campillo (Spa) -6
T6 Peter Hanson (Swe) -5
T6 Thomas Pieters (Bel) -5
T6 JB Hansen (Den) -5
T9 Ashley Chesters (Eng) -4
T9 Scott Jamieson (Sco) -4
T9 Chris Paisley (Eng) -4
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