The First Look: 3M Open

Cameron Champ returns to defend his title at the 3M Open as the PGA TOUR’s 2021-22 season inches closer to an exciting conclusion.

FIELD NOTES: John Deere Classic winner J.T. Poston hopes to extend his recent run of good play… Hideki Matsuyama is one of six major champions teeing it up… Michael Thompson looks for more magic after winning the 2020 3M… Newly minted pro Chris Gotterup is making his seventh TOUR start this season. He finished T4 at the John Deere… Brandon Matthews is also amongst the sponsor exemptions. The long-bombing Matthews is fourth on the Korn Ferry Tour’s regular season points list… Cole Hammer, Thaya Lim, Dylan Menante and tennis star Mardy Fish also received exemptions… Rookie of the Year candidates Davis Riley and Sahith Theegala are looking for their breakthrough victories. Riley sits 23rd in the FedExCup standings while Theegala is 38th… Other notables in the field include Tony Finau, Sungjae Im, and PLAYERS Championship winners Jason Day and Rickie Fowler.

FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

COURSE: TPC Twin Cities, par 71, 7,431 yards. Minnesota native and former world No.1 Tom Lehman was the player consultant for the layout, located about 15 miles north of Minneapolis/St. Paul. It utilizes natural, rolling terrain on the site of a former sod farm – and features lots of water. One of the signature holes, the risk/reward par-4 7th, is named ‘Tom’s Thumb’ after Lehman. Arnold Palmer and his design company were the architects of the club, which opened in 2000.

STORYLINES: Just three events remain in the 2021-22 PGA TOUR Regular Season; FedExCup points are at a premium. Martin Laird and Max McGreevy, No’s 126 and 127, respectively, are in the 3M field. Robert Streb, Fowler, and Stewart Cink (No’s 123-125, respectively) are also teeing it up… Mardy Fish, who is from Edina (a suburb of Minneapolis), won 20 times in his tennis career, reached No. 7 in the world, and earned a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics. He retired in 2015 but has become a prolific golfer. He won the LPGA’s Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions three times and the American Century Championship in 2020 – shooting 63 to break Lee Trevino’s course record. Fish becomes the latest athlete to accept an exemption into a PGA TOUR event, including former NFL quarterback Tony Romo and former MLB pitcher Mark Mulder. Stephen Curry, a two-time NBA MVP, played on the Korn Ferry Tour twice.

72-HOLE RECORD: 263, Matthew Wolff (2019)

18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Scott Piercy (first round, 2019), Bryson DeChambeau (second round, 2019), Matthew Wolff (third round, 2019), Lucas Glover (fourth round, 2019)

LAST TIME: Cameron Champ won for the third time on the PGA TOUR after a final-round 5-under 66. Champ’s bogey-free Sunday effort featured birdies on three of his first eight holes. He added two more on the back nine and held off Louis Oosthuizen, Jhonattan Vegas, and Charl Schwartzel, who all tied for second at 13 under. Champ gutted out the victory after suffering from dehydration and heat exhaustion. He hadn’t notched a top-10 result on TOUR since a T8 the previous October at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Keith Mitchell finished fifth, while 54-hole leader Cameron Tringale shot a 3-over 74 on Sunday to drop into a tie for 16th.

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