3 tournaments left including this one.
Must be time to make a move.
Did you see what I did there?
3M Open
TPC Twin Cities
Blaine, Minnesota
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TPC Twin Cities
| Yards (per official scorecard): | 7,431 |
| Par: | 71 (35-36) |
| Greens: | 6,500 square feet; Bentgrass. |
| Stimpmeter: | 12 |
| Rough: | Bluegrass/Fescue at 4 inches. |
| Bunkers/Water Hazards | 72/27/ (in play on 15 holes). |
| Architects: | Arnold Palmer (2000): Steve Wenzloff (2018). |
| Course Record (last): | 62; Four players; Scott Piercy and Lucas Glover (set in 2019) are entered this week. |
| Tournament Scoring Record: | 263; Matthew Wolff (-21, 2019; not entered 2022). |
| Oldest Winner: | Michael Thompson, 35. |
| Youngest Winner: | Matthew Wolff, 21. |
| Fact of the Week: | TPC Twin Cities hosted the PGA TOUR Champions from 2001-2017. |
| Purse: | $7.5 million; $1.35 million and 500 FedExCup points to the winner. |
Notes:
- Full field of 156
- Top 70 and ties play the final 36 holes.
- Stock Par-71 with three Par-5 holes and four Par-3 holes.
- After this week, just two regular season events remaining.
Previous Winners
Italics – not entered this week
| Year | Player | Notes |
| 2021 | Cameron Champ, (-15) | Won for the third time on TOUR and first at the 3M as held off three players by two shots |
| 2020 | Michael Thompson (-19) | Never was more than one shot off the lead after any round; Second win on TOUR. |
| 2019 | Matthew Wolff (-21) | Won in his third start as a professional and holds the tournament scoring record; not entered this week. |
OAD
Spotter’s Game 2022
| 2022 Events | Golfer | Place | Total $$ |
| Sentry Tournament of Champions | Marc Leishman | T10 | 188,000 |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Keith Mitchell | T7 | 227,812 |
| The American Express | Seamus Power | T14 | 119,700 |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Jon Rahm | T3 | 445,200 |
| AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am | Maverick McNealy | T33 | 43,548 |
| WM Phoenix Open | Hideki Matsuyama | T8 | 248,050 |
| The Genesis Invitational | Patrick Cantlay | T33 | 64,000 |
| The Honda Classic | Sungjae Im | MC | 0 |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Rory McIlroy | T13 | 228,000 |
| THE PLAYERS Championship | Daniel Berger | T13 | 327,222 |
| Valspar Championship | Keegan Bradley | MC | 0 |
| WGC – Dell Match Play | Paul Casey | T60 | 41,000 |
| Corales Puntacana | Emiliano Grillo | MC | 0 |
| Valero Texas Open | Corey Conners | T35 | 41,925 |
| Masters Tournament | Jordan Spieth | MC | 0 |
| RBC Heritage | Matt Fitzpatrick | MC | 0 |
| Zurich Classic of New Orleans | Ian Poulter | 13th | 69,803 |
| Mexico Open at Vidanta | Davis Riley | 5th | 299,300 |
| Wells Fargo Championship | Tony Finau | T41 | 33,750 |
| AT&T Byron Nelson | Will Zalatoris | MC | 0 |
| PGA Championship | Scottie Scheffler | MC | 0 |
| Charles Schwab Challenge | Max Homa | T23 | 77,700 |
| Memorial Tournament | Collin Morikawa | MC | 0 |
| RBC Canadian Open | Jhonattan Vegas | T53 | 20,387 |
| US Open | Xander Schauffele | T14 | 241,302 |
| Travelers Championship | Denny McCarthy | MC | 0 |
| John Deere Classic | Nick Hardy | T30 | 39,082 |
| Barbasol Championship | Chesson Hadley | T68 | 7,548 |
| Scottish Open | Tommy Fleetwood | T4 | 362,000 |
| The Open Championship | Shane Lowry | T21 | 120,286 |
| Total Events: 30 | Top 10: 6 | MC: 9 | $3,245,615 |
This Week – 3M Open
Back to Minnesota for the fourth consecutive season. The last three have all brought DIMINISHING RETURNS as the winning score, bogey free rounds and scoring average have all plummeted.
Last year was very hot and dry and those same conditions return this year. Toss in some breeze, 15 holes with water in play and I can see why the scoring has turned.
TPC Courses by nature are scoring venues so I’m not portraying this week as Carnoustie or Winged Foot but there are plenty of challenges to be navigated.
Patchy rough equals dodgy lies which mean safety first, especially at four inches. Playing from the fairway will green-light pin-seeking irons. Greens are PERFECT and are cut at I CAN’T BELIEVE EVERY PUTT GOES IN length.
Firm conditions means judging the ball in the air and on the ground and that USUALLY points to more experienced players. Last season Champ outdueled Oosthuizen, Schwartzel and Vegas. Only KH Lee, who won earlier in the season at TPC Craig Ranch and Mito Pereira were the “no-name” players in the top15.
THE CHOICE: Cameron Tringale (+2900)
Since none of the +12500 stick out BESIDES Brandon Matthews at +20000, I’m going to roll with #TheBrand and use a Horse for Course. Last year Tringale and McNealy played in the final group before stubbing toes. In 2020 he picked up a piece of T3 so there’s something here that fits his eye and his recent play doesn’t need reviving.
So let’s dance.
Isosceles? Equilateral? Nah, just Cameron.
Warm Blankets: The guys who should. Safe selections that will help maintain leads. Opinions on why or why not for this event or save for later.
Hideki Matsuyama (+1600): International player finishing up the string before the playoffs start. Pass.
Tony Finau (+1600): With 11 of 12 here in the red, I would expect another weekend with him hanging around. Sticks out.
Sungjae Im (+1900): Addressed him in the Pick ‘Em game above. Should be the tonic to what ails him recently. Once he sees a few go in, watch out.
Davis Riley (+2200): Only question will be how much rust has gathered and how long does it take for him to knock it off. Hasn’t played since Travelers (T64)-US Open (T31) back-to-back. I’m guessing the break was much needed!
Adam Hadwin (+2200): Interesting duck. One top 10 since Valero and it was the US Open! His record here isn’t in question but every time I hitch MY WAGON we get the smallpox and our party dies on the Oregon Trail. Trust the course form if anything!
Maverick McNealy (+2200): Knock, knock, knock as he’s rattled off T9-T16-T8 in his last three. It also includes a plane ride from the Quad Cities to Edinboro to SFO. If jet lag hasn’t slowed him down…
Sahith Theegala (+2200): Eight straight and 11 of 12. Bad break late at Travelers hasn’t slowed him down. Proper spirit and really gets it. Impossible to root against.
Spicy: This might be a week for sending out an “unknown” and saving a start. You just might get lucky. Or MC.
Cam Davis (+2500): I like him more than the books so maybe that’s a bad thing? I don’t think so. Rolls in on back to back top 10 paydays and will defend next week in Detroit. You don’t think he’s inspired by his countryman from last week? Get down.
Tom Kim (+3000): Meteoric rise and now has no worries as he’s in this week and the next two on STM. Should free him up a bit as he won’t have to worry about his “what’s next”. I like it.
Brendan Steele (+3300): T25-T10-T9 in his last three and three top 10s if you go back to Zurich in his last five. Lightly raced veteran makes his second start here and first start in a month.
Adam Svensson (+3500)
Adam Long (+3500)
Nick Hardy (+4000):
3 AM at the Blackjack Table: Caution is thrown to the wind. Maybe not the best for this format but what the hell, right? Might throw these in if you’re in need of a miracle.
Matthew NeSmith
Dylan Frittelli
Brandon Matthews
Ryan Armour
Funny Money Long Shots:
Check PGATOUR Pick ‘Em for deeper plays.
Last Time – The Open
THE CHOICE: Shane Lowry (+2200) – T21
Never factored. Here’s where OAD kills you/me/everyone. Played great all spring and early summer so you hope to catch him when he pops. Nope. Glad I still have Cam Smith and Justin Thomas for the FedExCup Playoffs! I think.
Look above and the best players this season have all MC for me it feels like. Unlucky? Perhaps. Not lucky? For sure.
Just as whatever for those of you who played McIlroy in the majors. Brutal.
This game is about snagging winners and I’m not very good at doing that it appears!
Thank god there are five more opportunities to embarrass myself!
Warm Blankets: The guys who should. Safe selections that will help maintain leads. Opinions on why or why not for this event or save for later.
Rory McIlroy (+1000): Thankfully OAD doesn’t care about the odds and neither should you. If this is your plan, press SEND, and sit back and relax. The lack of elements favors McIlroy as well as he’s professed his disdain for windy/cool conditions. All falling into place. Yep and he still didn’t win. Solo third.
Xander Schauffele (+1400): Since using him at the US Open, as I planned, for T14, he’s gone WIN-WIN-WIN. Your witness. Another major, another top finish, T15. Disappointing? Probably not as probability wasn’t on his side to win four events in a row. Beef Hair, ok?
Jon Rahm (+1800): We all know it’s going to turn back around. We’re just not sure when. You know how good he is when we’re questioning his form when he won just five events ago. T55-T12-T10-T48 are his last four including a pair of majors. T34 and never in the conversation. Disappointing.
Jordan Spieth (+1800): Can he make enough putts? Imagine typing that five years ago! Of the top four he provides the most value for my money. Creative, crafty and comfortable in his game at the moment. Imagine posting 12-under and barely making the top 10 at T8! Links maven.
Justin Thomas (+2000): Best finish is T11 Royal Portrush in 2019 but never factored. T40 at Royal St George’s last year in benign conditions doesn’t inspire. T37 at the US Open was met with a pre-tourney WD at Travelers followed by MC at Scottish. I’ll save him for Memphis. I hope you did as well. Like Rahm, it’s just not happening at the moment for JT; T53.
Matt Fitzpatrick (+2000): Run back his interviews this week and you won’t find many that mention his love for this track. I’ll let him bask in the US Open glory and enjoy his walk this week. T21 as he told you AGAIN on Sunday that he just is not comfortable here. Sometimes they don’t lie to us!
Scottie Scheffler (+2000): Like Morikawa played his first of these last year and cashed T8. World No. 1 doesn’t feel like it as the talk this week has focused more on golf’s past than its future. Understandable. MC Scottish Open won’t help either as he doesn’t have a ton of reps on these surfaces. T21 as he was one of the very few near the top to post an above par round (74) on Sunday. Sat T5 after 54 holes.
Cameron Smith (+2500): Navigating the 110 plus bunkers from the tee box will be job No. 1. No worries on or around the greens. Not many win their first major championship on this track but that doesn’t mean he can’t be in the mix. Interesting but maybe too many bunkers. WINNER. Nope, not too many bunkers. Just a pair of 64s, 20-under to break Tiger’s record here and yes, his first major championship. Other than that, a pretty boring week.
Patrick Cantlay (+2500): It’s Lucy and the Football at this event annually. Just his fourth visit he’s broken 70 once in 10 rounds on three different tracks. T4 last week in North Berwick will help his confidence as he closed 69-67. Time to stand up and be counted. All four rounds in the red and T8. Bravo.
Spicy: This might be a week for sending out an “unknown” and saving a start. You just might get lucky. Or MC.
Joaquin Niemann (+5000) – T53
Tiger Woods (+6600) – MC
Tony Finau (+4000) – T28
Justin Rose (+6600) – pre tournament WD
Seamus Power (+8000) – MC
3 AM at the Blackjack Table: Caution is thrown to the wind. Maybe not the best for this format but what the hell, right? Might throw these in if you’re in need of a miracle.
Billy Horschel (+10000) – T21
Marc Leishman (+8000) – MC
Aaron Wise (+12500) – T34
Tom Kim (+15000) – T47
Funny Money Long Shots:
Sahith Theegala (+15000) – T34
Harris English (+20000) – MC
Jason Scrivener (+30000) – T53
Keita Nakajima (+50000) – MC
Glass Houses 