Golfbet recap: Jhonattan Vegas ends victory drought with 3M Open win after 72nd-hole birdie

From 149th to 66th.

Jhonattan Vegas is the winner of the sixth edition of the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities, his fourth career PGA TOUR victory and his first in almost exactly seven years. With the win, Vegas goes from 149th in the FedExCup standings to 66th – and most importantly, now inside of the top 70 players projected to qualify for the postseason.

Vegas found his way to the top of the leaderboard on Saturday by shooting his lowest round of the season, a 63. He went into Sunday with a one-shot lead over Matt Kuchar, who was trying to win for the first time in over five years.

Round-by-round odds for Jhonattan Vegas to win 3M Open (via BetMGM)

• Pre-tournament: +6000
• After Round 1: +6000
• After Round 2: +1800
• After Round 3: +140

Vegas bogeyed the very first hole on Sunday. Kuchar made birdie on the second hole and the overnight 1-and-2 had swapped places. Vegas was now at 15-under par and trailing Kuchar by a shot. Kuchar began the day at +350 to win the 3M Open and Vegas was at +140.

Taylor Pendrith, the 36-hole leader who slipped to six shots back on Saturday after shooting 73, had it going in the right direction again early on Sunday. He was 2 under through his first five holes and had moved to four shots off of Kuchar's pace. Pendrith would end up shooting 67 on Sunday and finishing alone in fifth place.

Sahith Theegala made birdie at No. 4 and his overnight odds were essentially cut in half, going from +1000 to +550 to capture his second career TOUR victory. We noted the shaky iron play for Theegala in our Draws & Fades column on Saturday night – and it only got worse in the final round. Theegala ended up losing nearly three strokes to the field on approach for the week, shooting 70 on Sunday, and finishing tied for sixth place. However, he should have no trouble making it to East Lake for the TOUR Championship, as Theegala is currently seventh in the FedExCup standings.

After the leaders cleared the fourth hole, we were back to where we started as Vegas made birdie to Kuchar's bogey and it was 16 under to 15 under again, but this time, back in favor of the Venezuelan.

Closing out the front nine, Kuchar made a pair of costly bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8 to slip three shots back of Vegas. He was now +650 to pick up win No. 10 of his career while Vegas was now a -225 favorite to grab the crown.

Vegas then bogeyed No. 9 to trim the lead to two shots, heading to the inward nine. Vegas backers had to be feeling pretty good at this point, given that their guy had played the second nine holes in 16 under for the week. Through 10 holes, he was now -140 to win the golf tournament. Kuchar was +550. The third player in the final pairing, Maverick McNealy, was Even on his round and tied with Kuchar for second place at 14 under. At this point, McNealy was +450 to get his very first PGA TOUR victory.

Results for outright picks from Golfbet experts

• Will Gray: J.T. Poston (+3000) MC
• Ben Everill: Tony Finau (+1000) T12
• Chris Breece: Sahith Theegala (+2200) T6
• Matt DelVecchio: Tom Hoge (+3000) MC
• Rob Bolton: Tony Finau (+1000) T12
• Mike Glasscott: Emiliano Grillo T24

Fast forward to the 13th hole and all of a sudden, we had a four-way tie at the top of the leaderboard at 15 under. Vegas bogeyed the long par-3, McNealy and Kuchar made par, and Max Greyserman had entered the conversation, working on a round of 63 as he was 7 under through 16 holes. Greyserman was the longest shot to convert at +450. McNealy had become the favorite at +200. Vegas had moved to +225 and Kuchar was at +275.

In all five previous editions of the 3M Open, not one had been decided by a playoff. Greyserman broke the tie, ahead with a birdie at the final hole. He fired a Sunday 63 that included a 30 on the inward nine. He was in the clubhouse with the lead at 16 under. He was the second shortest choice at that point, at +160 to win. Just seconds later, Vegas holed a 9-foot putt for birdie at No. 15 and there were two players tied for the lead at 16 under. Vegas returned to the position of favorite to capture the victory at +120.

Needing a birdie on the final hole to win, Vegas pulled his approach shot short and left. He would need to two-putt from 96 feet in order to win – or face a playoff with Greyserman. Vegas was no stranger to birdieing the final hole to win as it was how his last two wins on TOUR had come, with the last being at the RBC Canadian Open, in a playoff, on July 30th, 2017. Vegas rolled the 96-footer 99 feet and made the comebacker from 3 feet for the one-shot win.

Kuchar has not missed the FedExCup Playoffs in 17 straight seasons. With his tie for third this week, Kuchar moves from 155th to 111th on the points list. The Wyndham Championship, coming up in two weeks, will be the final FedExCup Regular Season opportunity to get into the Playoffs. Greyserman made a key move from 88th to 63rd. Sam Burns moved inside the top 30 to 28th with a 12th-place finish this week. Mackenzie Hughes moved inside the top 50 to 46th with a 19th-place finish. Kurt Kitayama eagled the final hole on Sunday to finish tied for sixth. He moves from 78th to 73rd and gets five spots closer to extending his season.

Results from Rob Bolton Sleeper Picks and Golfbet Insider

• Pierceson Coody to win (+10000) 72nd
• Tom Hoge Top 5 finish (+750) MC
• Kevin Yu Top 10 finish (+550) T73
• Patton Kizzire Top 20 finish (+400) MC
• Ben Warian Top 40 finish (+450) MC
• Sam Burns Top 10 finish (+200) T12
• Erik van Rooyen Top 10 finish (+350) MC
• Mackenzie Hughes Top 20 finish (+210) T19
• Patrick Rodgers Top 20 finish (+200) T37
• Max Greyserman Top 20 finish (+250) 2nd
• Chesson Hadley Top 40 finish (+140) MC
• S.H. Kim Top 40 finish (+140) MC
• Martin Laird Top 40 finish (+175) MC
• S.Y. Noh Top 40 finish (+200) WD
• Henrik Norlander Top 40 finish (+200) T12
• Taylor Pendrith Top Canadian (+275) 5th
• Sam Ryder Top 40 finish (+140) MC
• Rico Hoey and Sam Stevens both Top 20 finish (+950) T67/T64
• Cam Davis, Maverick McNealy and Erik van Rooyen all make cut (+210) T19/T3/MC
• Daniel Berger Top 40 finish (+160) MC

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