Betting Stat Pack: Water, water everywhere at the 3M Open

TPC Twin Cities provides the annual July challenge for the PGA TOUR. Located in the Minneapolis suburb of Blaine, Minnesota, Arnold Palmer’s 2000 design, updated before the inaugural edition by Steven Wenzloff in 2018, plays to a Par-71 and 7,431 yards for the third consecutive season.

Tony Finau returns to defend his 3M Open title and is one of three power players to win from the four previous championships. The Par-71 features four Par-3 holes with three tipping out at 200 yards plus. The Par-5 holes are no picnic either. All stretching over 590 yards, no previous champion ranked in the top 10 in this category.

The field of 156 is highlighted by 11 of the top 50 players in the OWGR, led by No. 15 Cameron Young. This is one of the last two chances for players to position themselves for the FedExCup Playoffs. Only the top 70 this season will qualify. Time to get moving!

A purse of $7.8 million will include $1.404 million and 500 FedExCup points to the fifth champion at TPC Twin Cities.

Key Statistics

Only players listed are competing this week. Stats from the current 2022-23 season.

SG: Approach the Green

Water, water, everywhere! With 27 water penalty areas spread over 15 holes, keeping the ball in play into greens averaging 6,500 yards is a must-do. Missing these large targets will incur bunkers, closely mown areas, and, of course, watery graves. The four previous winners have all ranked T19 or better in this category, but three of the four ranked in the top four. Playing away from penalty areas and hazards from the tee will require recovery shots from less-than-ideal lies.

Par-4 Scoring.

Last year, the Par-3 holes played over par. The Par-5 holes were the fifth-most difficult trio on TOUR last season. With 11 chances on the card, five of the par-4 holes will play 424 yards or less. The four winners have ranked either T1 or T2 in this category including three of the four T1. Hitting it close and rolling in the putts on the Bentgrass surfaces running at 12 feet will make for happy days.

Bogey Avoidance

Two of the last three winners have squared just three bogeys for the week. Cameron Champ had four bogeys plus a double in 2021. The four pieces of evidence from the past winners give us clues that there is more than one way to tame TPC Twin Cities. The champs who didn’t dominate tee-to-green were lights-out with the putter. Hitting more GIR provides more scoring chances. Missing fairways and greens require touch on and around the greens. Saving pars and grinding out bogeys will lessen the pressure to take more chances. Staying mentally sharp, managing risk and reward, and keeping a dry golf ball will go a long way this week!

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