Digital Sports Desk

Online Destination for the Best in Boston Sports

3M Open

Kitayama Takes 3M Open

by

BLAINE (Minn) – Kurt Kitayama wasn’t sure he would qualify for the final two rounds of the 3M Open. It turned out to be a weekend to remember.

Kitayama shot 6-under-par 65 and held on to win the 3M Open by one stroke Sunday in Blaine, Minn., for his second PGA Tour victory.

“I feel like the game has been trending, and for it finally to kind of pay off now has been awesome,” Kitayama said.

Kitayama finished at 23-under 261 at  TPC Twin Cities for a one-stroke decision on Sam Stevens, who posted 66 on Sunday. Kitayama made a total of 20 birdies in the two weekend rounds.

Prior to that, he wasn’t certain he would make the cut in this tournament.

“On Friday, I was fighting my swing trying to find something,” Kitayama said. “Went to the range, trying to find something.”

He definitely discovered what was needed.

Kitayama, who tied a course and tournament record with a third-round 60 on Saturday, pretty much rode that wave of momentum. He had birdies on the first three holes Sunday — including a chip-in from the green side rough on No. 3 — and was 5 under through six holes on the way to a 29 on the front nine.

But after a bogey on No. 11, his lead was just two on England’s Matt Wallace, who had already completed his round. Kitayama rebounded with birdies on two of the next three holes.

Yet it took him three putts to finish the par-3 17th, with the bogey cutting the margin to one stroke. But Stevens, who had birdies on Nos. 14-16 to pull within striking distance, was all over the place on the 18th with his first three shots into the rough and scrambled for par.

Kitayama, in the next group, had a smooth final hole and won it with par.

The tournament title locked up a position for Kitayama in the FedEx Cup playoffs with one regular-season tournament remaining.

“Jumping up that much is great,” he said. “The goal is to make the playoffs and give yourself a chance.”

There was another special aspect of the result for Kitayama because his older brother, Daniel, was his caddie for the second week in a row.

Stevens settled for his third top-10 finish of the season.

David Lipsky and Wallace both registered 64s to share the distinction for the best score of the round, and they finished tied for third place at 20 under, along with Pierceson Coody (67) and Jake Knapp (68).

Wallace produced a bogey-free round, but finished with pars on his final three holes.

Chris Gotterup, who was aiming for his second title in three weeks, didn’t make a charge en route to a 69, tying for 10th place at 18 under.

Third-round co-leaders Thorbjorn Olesen (73) of Denmark and Akshay Bhatia (75) tumbled down the leaderboard and finished tied for 14th (16 under) and tied for 25th (14 under), respectively. Bhatia had seven bogeys Sunday.

Kevin Roy also registered 64 on Sunday, ending at 13 under.

–Field Level Media

Olesen Leads at 3M Open

by

BLAINE – Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen overcame a double bogey and took over the lead at the 3M Open by posting a 5-under-par 66 Friday at TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota.

Embed from Getty Images

Olesen entered the weekend at 14-under 128, one shot above Jake Knapp (65 Friday) and two ahead of Pierceson Coody (65) and Sam Stevens (68).

Olesen was 1 over par six holes into his round after hitting his tee shot out of bounds at the par-4 15th and hitting a poor shot off his drop. He proceeded to birdie the next two holes to erase that blemish, then add four birdies on the front nine.

“There was two great shots there,” Olesen said. “On (No. 16), I hit it to I think 3 or 4 feet, and also on 17 I hit it really close. Yeah, I mean, my iron play has been great. I didn’t — I felt pretty comfortable even though I made a double still, so that’s a good thing.”

Olesen, 35, is a veteran with eight wins on the DP World Tour but none in the United States. He started the week No. 129 in the FedEx Cup standings but said he’s simply taking every week as it comes.

“Every week is an opportunity to try and bounce back and do something special,” Olesen said.

Knapp is bogey-free through 36 holes as he seeks his second PGA Tour win. He opened his round with three straight birdies at Nos. 10-12.

“Feel like I’m kind of doing everything pretty good for the most part,” Knapp said. “I haven’t made too many putts, but yeah, I feel like it’s been, you know, kind of mistake-free for the most part. I haven’t really had to scramble too much.”

Tied for fifth at 11 under were Japan’s Takumi Kanaya (bogey-free 64), German Matti Schmid (68) and Chris Kirk (67).

A collection of notable names at 10 under included Wyndham Clark (65), Chris Gotterup (69), Akshay Bhatia (66) and Joel Dahmen (65). Alex Noren of Sweden joined them there by posting the round of the day, a 9-under 62 with an eagle-birdie-birdie-bogey finish.

“Today I understand why I love golf so much,” Noren quipped. “It’s a fantastic sport because it is tough and then when you get it right, it’s lovely.”

Canadian Adam Svensson broke the course record Thursday with an 11-under 60 but turned the wrong way Friday, posting a 4-over 75 to drop back to 7 under.

Max Homa (8 under following a 68), Rickie Fowler (7 under; 70) and Sam Burns (7 under; 64) made the cut, which landed at 5 under par as Friday’s round finished.

Those who missed the weekend included China’s Haotong Li (4 under), who was in the final Sunday pairing with Scottie Scheffler at last week’s Open Championship; Sahith Theegala (2 under); and Tony Finau (4 over), a former 3M Open champion who made back-to-back double bogeys en route to a 77 Friday.

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour: Preview for 3M Open

by

BLAINE, Minn – The 2025 3M Open is the 35th of 36 FedEx Cup Regular Season events which means we are coming down the home stretch of the PGA Tour’s regular season.

The PGA TOUR returned to Minnesota for the seventh straight season, which debuted in 2019 as the TOUR’s first non-major event in Minnesota since the 1969 Minnesota Golf Classic (won by Frank Beard at Braemar Golf Club) and first official PGA TOUR event in the state since the 2009 PGA Championship (won by Y.E. Yang at Hazeltine National Golf Club).

TPC Twin Cities was designed by World Golf Hall of Fame member Arnold Palmer, who worked in consultation with Minnesota native and PGA TOUR veteran Tom Lehman.

Ten players in the field have competed in all six previous editions of the 3M Open: Cam Davis, Tony Finau, Brice Garnett, Chesson Hadley, Tom Hoge, Beau Hossler, Patton Kizzire, Peter Malnati, Troy Merritt, and Sam Ryder.

Four past champions of the 3M Open are in the field: Cameron Champ (2021), Tony Finau (2022), Lee Hodges (2023), Jhonattan Vegas (2024).

Vegas won the 2024 3M Open by one stroke over Max Greyserman, earning Vegas his fourth career PGA TOUR title in his 299th start. He became the first international winner of the event and the first player in tournament history with a win and runner-up (2021). Vegas seeks to become the first repeat winner in tournament history.

Maverick McNealy is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 18 in the Official World Golf Ranking; has six top-10s this season, highlighted by a runner-up at The Genesis Invitational.

Following next week’s Wyndham Championship (July 31–Aug. 3), the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings will earn a spot in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

  • There are 18 players in the 3M Open field who rank between Nos. 60-80 in the FedExCup standings entering the week: Davis Riley (No. 60), Kevin Yu (No. 61), Erik van Rooyen (No. 62), Rickie Fowler (No. 63), Cam Davis (No. 65), Patrick Rodgers (No. 66), Byeong Hun An (No. 67), Matti Schmid (No. 68), Keith Mitchell (No. 70), Emiliano Grillo (No. 71), Davis Thompson (No. 72), Eric Cole (No. 73), Alex Smalley (No. 74), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (No. 75), Kevin Roy (No. 76), Chris Kirk (No. 77), Gary Woodland (No. 78), Ryo Hisatsune (No. 79).
  • At No. 85 in the FedExCup, Adam Scott will make his tournament debut at the 3M Open; Scott’s best finish in 15 starts this season is a T12 at the U.S. Open.

The 3M Open | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minnesota

YARDS/PAR: 7,431 yards/Par 71

ARCHITECT: Arnold Palmer

PRIZE Money – Purse: $8,400,000/$1,512,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Johnattan Vegas

TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW: (link)

OFFICIAL SITE: (3M)

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @3MOpen #GolfThatMatters

PGA Tour: Vegas Has Hot Hand

by

BLAINE – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas birdied six of the final eight holes for an 8-under-par 63 to surge into the lead after three rounds of the 3M Open on Saturday in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.

Embed from Getty Images

Matt Kuchar’s eagle on No. 18 gave him 63 and a temporary share of first place before Vegas, who’s at 16-under 197, birdied the last hole.

Vegas, who hasn’t won on the PGA Tour in seven years, had three birdies in a four-hole stretch to pull into a share of the lead after No. 14 and kept the momentum going.

Kuchar, who hasn’t won in more than five years and is aiming for his 10th career victory on the tour, will be contending in the final round at TPC Twin Cities. He nearly aced the par-3 17th before his final-hole eagle came with a short chip from in front of the green, with the ball bouncing a couple of times before clanking against the pin and dropping into the cup.

Maverick McNealy also shot 63 to move to 14 under, while Patrick Fishburn (63) and Sahith Theegala (66) share fourth place at 12 under.

Canada’s Adam Svensson (66), Matt NeSmith (70) and Australia’s Cam Davis (65) are tied for sixth at 11 under. Among Svensson’s highlights was sinking a shot from a sand trap for a birdie on the par-3 eighth

Canadian Taylor Pendrith, who led after the second round by two strokes, tumbled with a 2-over 73. He had a five-hole stretch at 5 over, ending with a double-bogey 6 at No. 11, though he made it through the last seven holes at 1 under. He’s tied for ninth at 10 under.

Fishburn emerged atop the leaderboard among early finishers before others caught up.

PGA Tour: Hodges Wins Wire-to-Wire

by

BLAINE – Lee Hodges earned his first PGA TOUR title in his 65th career start at the age of 28 years, 1 month, 16 days, and in doing so, collected 500 FEDEx CUP points to move from No. 74 to No. 33 in the FedExCup standings. The Top 70 after next week advance to the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Embed from Getty Images

Hodges’ victory was the first wire-to-wire win in tournament history and the first on TOUR since J.T. Poston dominated at the 2022 John Deere Classic. Hodges became the 11th first-time winner of the season and third in as many weeks.

Martin Laird (T2/-17) recorded his seventh runner-up on TOUR and carded his best result since winning the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open.

Kevin Streelman (T2/-17) earned sixth runner-up and 52nd Top-10 of his career while seeking his third TOUR title and first since the 2014 Travelers Championship.

Poston (T2/-17) earned his third career runner-up and first since 2022 Travelers Championship when he went on to win in grand fashion the following week at the 2022 John Deere Classic.

Defending champion Tony Finau finished T7 at 15-under (269) in his bid to become the fourth player this season to successfully defend a title on TOUR and first since Scottie Scheffler (WM Phoenix Open).

With a T7 finish, Aaron Baddeley earned a spot in next week’s field at the Wyndham Championship, the final event of the PGA Tour regular season.

3M Open | Final Leaderboard

1st Lee Hodges 63 64 66 67 260 (-24)

T2 Martin Laird 68 68 67 64 267 (-17)

T2 Kevin Streelman 64 68 69 66 267 (-17)

T2 J.T. Poston 66 66 66 69 267 (-17)

Full Leaderboard (link)

PGA Tour: 3M Open Underway

by

BLAINE – The 3M Open is the 43rd of 44 PGA Tour events in the FedEx Cup regular season, with just two weeks remaining until the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. New in 2023, only the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings will qualify for the FedEx St. Jude Championship (the first Playoffs event), down from 125 (2009-2022).

Embed from Getty Images

Notable players outside the top 70 in the FedExCup standings include No. 75 Justin Thomas, No. 90 Gary Woodland and No. 118 Billy Horschel.

Thomas is currently No. 75 in the FedExCup standings with two weeks remaining until the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Thomas, in his ninth season as a TOUR member, has never missed the Playoffs.

He has advanced to the TOUR Championship in each of the last seven seasons and finished in the Top 10 in the standings in the last six, including his FedEx Cup title in 2017. Thomas has the most PGA TOUR wins (15) and major championship titles (2) of any player in the field and is also the most recent PLAYERS Championship winner (2021) and FedEx Cup Champion (2017).

There are (24) players in the field who made the trip from The Open Championship, including three that finished in the Top 10:

  • Sepp Straka (T2)
  • Emiliano Grillo (T6)
  • Cameron Young (T8).

Straka has a win (John Deere Classic) and a T2 (The Open Championship) in his last two starts, becoming the first player to win on TOUR and finish runner-up in his next start since Jordan Spieth in 2022 (Won/RBC Heritage, 2nd/AT&T Byron Nelson). Straka is No. 15 in the FedExCup standings, the second-highest of any player in the field (Finau/10), and is attempting to qualify for the TOUR Championship for the second consecutive season.

Grillo, who won the Charles Schwab Challenge earlier this season for his second career PGA TOUR title, has two Top-fives in three starts at the 3M Open, including a T-2 in 2022. His T6 at The Open Championship was his first career Top-10 in a major.

At No. 15 in the Official World Golf Ranking, Young is the highest-ranked player in the field. He is also the highestranked player in the OWGR that has not won on the PGA TOUR. Young is making his tournament debut at the 3M Open.

The 3M Open | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minnesota

YARDS/PAR: 7,431 yards/Par 71

ARCHITECT: Arnold Palmer

PRIZE Money – Purse: $7,800,000/$1,404,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Tony Finau

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @3MOpen #GolfThatMatters

How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)

3M Round One: Thursday, July 27, 2023 – All Times EDT

7:45am – 7:00pm – Streaming on ESPN+

1:00pm – 7:00pm – Sirius/XM Radio (92) and PGA Tour.com/PGA Tour Radio

4:00pm – 7:00pm – Golf Channel

4:00pm – 7:00pm – Streaming on Peacock Network

Finau Storms Back at 3M Open

by

BLAINE – Beginning the final round five strokes off the lead, Tony Finau earned his third PGA Tour title by setting the largest final-round comeback by a winner in 3M Open history.

Sungjae Im earned his third career runner-up finish, while Emiliano Grillo collected his sixth on Tour.

Scott Piercy, who held at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds, played the final round 5-over (76) and finished T-4.

Defending champion Cameron Champ finishes T-16 in his bid to become tournament’s first repeat winner.

TPC Twin Cities now has the distinction of the most balls in the water on TOUR this season with (303).

3M Open | Final Leaderboard

Tony Finau 67-68-65-67—267 (-17)

Sungjae Im 65-70-67-68—270 (-14)

Emiliano Grillo 67-65-67-71—270 (-14)

James Hahn 69-70-67-65—271 (-13)

Tom Hoge 67-68-66-70—271 (-13)

Scott Piercy 65-64-66-76—271 (-13)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

Piercy Leads at Wet & Windy 3M Open

by

BLAINE – Scott Piercy set a 3M Open 54-hole tournament record in his bid for fifth career PGA Tour win and first individual stroke-play title since the 2015 Barbasol Championship.

Following his T-2 at the John Deere Classic three weeks ago, Emiliano Grillo is chasing his second Tour title and first since 2015

With one bogey through 54 holes (No. 1/R2), Doug Ghim’s score of (200) marked his lowest 54-hole score on Tour

Two years removed from his T-3 finish at the 3M Open, Tony Finau is in position for third career Tour title but is five strokes off the lead.

PGA TOUR rookie Greyson Sigg birdied seven of his last 11 holes for a 7-under (64) in bid for first title (36th start).

Leaderboard at 3M Open | After 54 Holes

Scott Piercy 65-64-66—195 (-18)

Emiliano Grillo 67-65-67—199 (-14)

Doug Ghim 67-68-65—200 (-13)

Tony Finau 67-68-65—200 (-13)

Tom Hoge 67-68-66—201 (-12)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

Note: With the threat of severe weather, third-round tee times were moved-up and featured threesomes off tee Nos. 1 and 10 from 6:50 – 9:02am (local). Due to inclement weather, the third round was suspended from 10:57am until 5:35pm (6 hours, 38 minutes). High temps of 85-degrees. Winds E/SE 10-15 mph, with gusts to 20 mph. The round was completed.

Piercy Putts Way to 3M Open Lead

by

BLAINE – Scott Piercy’s 36-hole (129) total is one stroke shy of his career-best on Tour and one stroke shy of the tournament record which was enough to provide him with a three-stroke lead heading into the third round of the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Emiliano Grillo shoot (65) on Friday to reach 10-under through 36 holes, marking his eighth round of (65) or better this season. In 2020, Grillo shot 64-65 on the weekend to finish T-3 at the 3M Open.

England’s Callum Tarren posted a (63) (-8) in the second round of the 3M Open, bettering his lowest 18-hole score on Tour by two stokes (65), four times, most recently R-3/2022 John Deere Classic).

The top three players on the leaderboard represent different countries: USA, Argentina, England.

Robert Streb is the only player without a bogey through 36 holes

This weekend marks first time in tournament history that the 36-hole cut is not under par (2019 (-3), 2020 (-2), 2021 (-2).

Defending champion Cameron Champ birdied four of his last five holes to make the cut on the number.

Leaderboard at 3M Open | After 36 Holes

Scott Piercy 65-64 – 129 (-13)

Emiliano Grillo 67-65 – 132 (-10)

Callum Tarren 71-63 – 134 (-8)

Five players – 135 (-7)

Full Leaderboard: (link)

PGA Tour: 3M Open Preview

by

BLAINE – The 3M Open, which is being contested for the fourth time since its inception in 2019 and is the 42nd of 44 events during the FedEx Cup regular season. With only three weeks remaining until the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the 3M Open provides an opportunity for players looking to secure one of the 125 spots in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Three-time PGA Tour winner Cameron Champ returns to the 3M Open to defend his title. Champ is in his fourth season on the PGA Tour and has won in each of his first three seasons (2018 Sanderson Farms Championship, 2019 Fortinet Championship, 2021 3M Open). With a win, he would become the fourth player with a win in each of the last four seasons (including the current season), joining Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas. Four defending champions have won this season, the most in a season since 2016-17 (4).

Four PGA Tour rookies are currently in the Top 40 of the FedExCup standings and two of them are in the field this week: Davis Riley (No. 23 in the FedExCup standings) and Sahith Theegala (No. 38). The Rookie of the Year as voted on by PGA Tour membership at the end of the season will receive the Arnold Palmer Award.

World No. 40 Joohyung Kim, competing on a sponsor exemption, joined the PGA Tour this week as a Special Temporary Member. A native of South Korea, Kim is now eligible for unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the season as he attempts to earn his Tour card for the 2022-23 season. To earn full status for the 2022-23 season, Kim must earn as many or more non-member FedEx Cup points as the final eligible player from the 2021-22 FedEx Cup standings to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Kim currently has 296 points, which would fall between Nos. 131 and 132 in the standings.

Former professional tennis player and Edina, Minnesota, native Mardy Fish, winner of six ATP Tour titles and silver medalist at the 2004 Olympic Games, is competing on a sponsor exemption. Fish is making his PGA Tour debut and is the first professional athlete from another sport to receive a sponsor exemption since former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo at the 2019 Fortinet Championship. Romo has made four starts on TOUR and missed the cut in each of them. Fish defeated Romo in a playoff to win the celebrity competition at the 2022 ClubCorp Classic on PGA Tour Champions and has won the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions celebrity tournament three times.

When Brendon de Jonge WD from the 3M Open, he was not replaced as there were no more alternates available to play.

Players to successfully defend a title this season:

  • Rory McIlroy RBC Canadian Open
  • K.H. Lee AT&T Byron Nelson
  • Sam Burns Valspar Championship
  • Viktor Hovland World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba

2021 Masters Tournament champion Hideki Matsuyama is the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 14 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Matsuyama has won twice on Tour this season (ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, Sony Open in Hawaii) and with a victory, would become the fifth player to win three times this season.