By Tom LaMarre
The 3M Open will be played for the second time this week at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minn., and it has a tough act to follow—especially without fans in the seventh tournament since the PGA Tour restart after the shutdown in March because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
In the inaugural event a year ago, Bryson DeChambeau sank a three-foot eagle putt on the final hole of regulation to take a one-stroke lead, only to have rookie Matthew Wolff one-up him by sinking a 26-foot eagle putt to win in his third professional start by one over DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa.
Morikawa, another of the PGA Tour’s young guns, was playing alongside Wolff and missed his own eagle putt and settled for a birdie.
“Yeah, it was definitely a little jump-start (to his career),” said Wolff (pictured), who wasn’t yet 21 years old, was playing on a sponsor exemption and had recently left Oklahoma State after winning the NCAA Division I individual championship two months earlier.
“I wasn’t really making anything. Was hitting it good, which is always nice and something I rely on, but putts just didn’t really seem to drop. And 18 I kind of snuck it in.”
Wolff, who is from Agoura Hills in Southern California, followed up his victory with two finishes in the top 25 before the end of last season, but struggled a bit with five missed cuts this season.
However, he found his game early this month in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, where he took a three-stroke lead to the final round but made five bogeys in the first 10 holes and wound up in solo second, three shots behind DeChambeau after a 73.
“I felt like I was working on a lot of things and trying to find stuff that I didn’t really need to find after 3M,” said Wolf, who shot 64-64 in the middle rounds of the Rocket Mortgage. “I played really well at 3M and then I made the cut at John Deere, and then I think that in the off-season I was kind of working on a few things, trying to straighten out my ball flight and do some things like that, and I just really didn’t need to do that.
“I needed to stick with what I knew and how I played and keeping everything simple, making sure to have confidence in myself and not driving myself crazy with thoughts over the ball or before a shot or anything like that. … I figured some things out.”
Wolff, the 2019 Haskins Award winner who joined Ben Crenshaw and Tiger Woods as the only players to win the NCAA title and a PGA Tour event in the same year, will be joined in the field by fourth-ranked Dustin Johnson, sixth-ranked Brooks Koepka, Tommy Fleetwood of England, Bubba Watson, Ryan Armour, Paul Casey of England, Corey Conners of Canada, Luke Donald of England, Tony Finau, Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain, Charley Hoffman, Si Woo Kim of South Korea, Ryan Moore, Jason Dufner and Charl Schwartzel of South Africa.
Among the young players on the rise playing in the 3M Open are Aaron Wise, Dylan Frittelli of South Africa, Max Homa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Rodgers, Carlos Ortiz of Mexico, Sam Ryder, Doc Redman, Tom Hoge, Scottie Scheffler, Brandon Hagy, Henrik Norlander of Sweden and Matthew NeSmith.
Executive Director Hollis Cavner of the 3M Open said the PGA Tour came “very close” to moving this year’s tournament a club in Florida club, but credited the title sponsor for keeping it in Minnesota.
“This is about 3M wanting to do something really great for Minnesota,” Cavner said. “It’s still going to be a great TV show, shown worldwide. It’s still a chance to showcase Minnesota in a great way.”
3M officials also submitted a proposal to state officials in May that would have allowed 6,000 spectators on the course each day, but the PGA Tour decided that there will be no fans at any tournament for the rest of this season.
So, if the 3M Open is to have another riveting finish, it simply will be a TV drama.
BEST BETS
- Dustin Johnson, United States – DJ was wildly inconsistent in his last two starts, claiming his 14th PGA Tour victory in the Travelers before shooting 80-80 to miss the cut by 13 strokes last week in the Memorial Tournament. He’ll tee it up in the 3M Open to get his game back into shape for the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational next week.
- Tommy Fleetwood, England – With the WGC-FedEx St. Jude and the PGA Championship approaching, Fleetwood passed on the British Masters this week to play on the PGA Tour for the first time since the shutdown began in March. He has three top-25 finishes this season, including solo third in the Honda Classic in his next-to-last event.
- Tony Finau, United States – Will try to bounce back after losing a three-stroke lead midway through the third round of the Memorial before finishing solo eighth, his fourth top-10 finish and sixth top-25 this season. His best result was a playoff loss to Webb Simpson in the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Tied for 23rd in 3M Open last year.
- Brooks Koepka, United States – Still nursing a left knee injury, Koepka struggled to a tie for 62nd in the difficult conditions at Muirfield Village in the Memorial, but seemed to be on the way back when he finished seventh a few weeks earlier in the RBC Heritage. Another player trying to find something ahead of his title defense in PGA Championship.
- Matthew Wolff, United States – The defending champion in the 3M Open, having won with a 26-foot eagle putt on the final hole, the 21-year-old Wolff finished solo second in the Rocket Mortgage Classic and tied for 22nd in the Memorial Tournament in recent weeks. Has recorded six finishes in the top 25 in his second season on PGA Tour.
- Paul Casey, England – After winning the Valspar Championship each if the last two years, Casey is playing in only his third tournament since the restart and could be ready to kick things into gear. He posted four scores in the 60s to tie for 32nd in the Travelers recently, and his best result this season was solo 11th in WGC-Mexico Championship.
- Bubba Watson, United States – Two-time Masters champion is trying to regain his form from earlier this year, when he tied for third in Farmers Insurance Open and tied for sixth in Waste Management Phoenix on consecutive weeks. Bubba tied for seventh in the Charles Schwab Challenge after the restart, but has missed the cut three times since.
- Erik van Rooyen, South Africa – Something of a local favorite after playing at the University of Minnesota, Van Rooyen is in the field on a sponsor exemption after tying for 21st in the RBC Heritage and tying for 25th in the Memorial since the restart. Tied for third in the WGC-Mexico in February and won the 2019 Scandinavian Invitation.
- Luke List, United States – After claiming his second victory on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, List is back on the PGA Tour this season and last week recorded his best finish of the campaign with a tie for 10th in the Memorial Tournament. Also tied for 21st in the Rocket Mortgage Classic a few weeks ago, but he missed cut in the 2019 3M Open.
- Scott Piercy, United States – Opened with a 62 to establish the early course record at TPC Twin Cities last year on his way to a tie for 15th in the inaugural 3M Open. A four-time winner on the PGA Tour, Piercy tied for sixth in the Waste Management Phoenix Open before the shutdown and has recorded four other finishes in the top-25 this season.
OTHER PLAYERS TO WATCH: Jason Dufner, United States; Ryan Moore, United States; Jhonattan Vegas, Venezuela; Si Woo Kim, South Korea; Russell Henley, United States; Brendon Todd, United States; Rafa Cabrera Bello, Spain; Patrick Rodgers, United States; Harris English, United States.
SLEEPERS
- Henrik Norlander, Sweden – Coming off a T-6 in the Memorial and also had T-12 in the Rocket Mortgage since the restart. Best this season was a T-5 in the RSM Classic.
- Carlos Ortiz, Mexico – Tied for fifth in inaugural 3M Open last year with four scores in the 60s, capped by a 64. Has three top-10s this season, including a T-2 in Mayakoba.
- Sam Burns, United States – Has T-17 in Workday and T-24 in the Travelers since the restart. T-7 in the first 3M Open last year, starting with 66-66 and closing with a 64.
- Wyndham Clark, United States – Tied for fifth in the first 3M Open with four scores in 60s, including 64 in third round. T-8 in CJ Cup, T-11 in Honda are his best this season.
- Xinjun Zhang, China – A six-time winner as a pro, he finished T-10 in the Memorial last week. Also was T-4 in the Houston Open at T-7 in the Safeway Open this season.
For first-round tee times, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html
