American Kurt Kitayama earned a spot at the SMBC Singapore Open after carding a six-under-par 65 at the Qualifying Tournament today.

It has been a great start to 2018 and a fruitful venture to Asia so far for the 25-year-old golfer. Yesterday, he celebrated his birthday by finishing tied-third at the Asian Tour Qualifying School to earn playing rights on the Asian Tour.

After topping the Qualifying Tournament, he will be looking forward to playing alongside the best players from the Asian Tour and the Japan Golf Tour at the US$1 million event.

“The greens were really smooth and I made some really good putts. I adjusted to the speed early and I felt that I was in control for the rest of the day,” said Kitayama, who has plied his trade mainly in America.

Kitayama scored seven birdies at Sentosa Golf Club’s Tanjong course, and his scorecard would have been flawless if not for a bogey on the 12th.

Gunn Charoenkul of Thailand also qualified for the SMBC Singapore Open after finishing in second place, one shot behind Kitayama. Gunn, also 25 years old, attributed his good round to his excellent driving and he’ll be looking to do better this year, after finishing tied-71st in Singapore last year.

“I have good memories of playing here. In the 2012 tournament, I finished tied-24th. But last year, I was just a few shots from being in last place! My putting wasn’t great then, but I’m putting better this week!” he said.

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