The PGA Tour is back in action this week with the 3M Open outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota at TPC Twin Cities. There are just three weeks remaining in the regular season, so for many players, it’s time to make a move or cushion their playoff chances as the season winds down. The four-day individual stroke play event begins on Thursday, July 21st, and ends on Sunday, July 24th.
2022 3M Open will be the fourth year for the tournament, one of the youngest events on the schedule. The 3M Championship span for 26 years (1993-2018) on the PGA Champions Tour before becoming a PGA event.
Cameron Champ returns to defend his title after grabbing his third PGA Tour win last year. Champ outlasted Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, and Jhonattan Vegas to win by two shots with a four-day total of 269 (15-under).
The winner of the tournament receives 500 FedEx Cup points and $1.35 million of the $7.5 million purse.
The Field
This week the field will consist of the traditional 156-man tee sheet. Playing the week after a major, many of the top players in the field won’t be teeing it up, but the field is still supported by some top players.
Open Championship participants Tony Finau, Sungjae Im, and 2021 Masters Champion Hideki Matsuyama are just a few players teeing it up this week after participating at St. Andrews. Jason Day and Rickie Fowler join two Rookie of the Year candidates in Davis Riley and Sahith Theegala, appearing this week.
TPC Twin Cities
After two weeks of links golf, the Tour returns to a parkland-style layout at TPC Twin Cities. The course was designed by Arnold Palmer with the consultation help of Tom Lehman. This week the course will play as a par-71 and measure approximately 7,400 yards.
There are water hazards scattered all throughout the property, setting up a few risk/reward holes. The bentgrass fairways are wide but miss them, and you will end up penial rough that was left an inch taller this year. The green complexes are also large, so players will need to have precision with their irons to roll in the birdies.
Over the first three years of the tournament, the average winning score here has been just over 18-under par.
Betting Odds
Tony Finau (+1100) is the pre-tournament betting favorite heading into Thursday’s first round. Finau comes to Minnesota after a T13 at the Travelers and R28 at the Open.
Maverick McNealy, Sungjae Im, and Hideki Matsuyama round out a trio of golfers at +1600. McNealy has recent tournament finishes of T8 at the Johne Deere Classic and T16 at the Genesis Scottish Open. Matsuyama (T64) and Im (T81) both made the weekend at the Open but couldn’t do much over the weekend.
There is a logjam of other top competitors at +1800 with Davis Riley, Cameron Tringale, and Adam Hadwin. Riley and Tringale could have a career weekend as they search for their first PGA Tour victory.
