Happy days.
That’s how Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo described his opening two rounds at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota.
Of Thursday’s bogey-free 67, he said, “I actually think it was one of my best rounds of the year. It almost felt like I almost had no chance of making bogey out there.” And his score was even lower on Friday despite one dropped shot, as the 29-year-old Grillo signed for a 6-under 65 at TPC Twin Cities to improve to 10-under 132 and grab the 36-hole clubhouse lead by two strokes over Callum Tarren.
“Anything under par on windy days, it’s a plus,” Grillo said. “I was able to manage the ball pretty well, and I was able to make the putts when I had the chance.”
For Grillo, his season had little to smile about until two weeks ago when he finished T-2 at the John Deere Classic, his first top 10 of the season and first overall since last May. That locked up his Tour card for next season and removed a gigantic weight off his shoulders.
Grillo is seeking his first PGA Tour title since the 2016 Frys.Com Open in his rookie season. He has always been a ball-striker par excellence but his putter is often more foe than friend. He’s only cracked the top-100 in Strokes Gained: Putting once, and has ranked as poorly at 192nd in that category. He entered the week ranked No. 153, but gained more than 3 strokes on the field with his short stick on Friday. Nevertheless, Grillo said to ignore his putting stats.
“In this year, the days that I played bad around the greens, it’s just because I was hitting very poorly or I just didn’t want to be there,” he explained. “I would say that 90 percent of the rounds this year I putted really well. Obviously it helps when you hit it close and when you make a few that kind of gets your momentum going and the hole gets a little bit bigger.”
Grillo made four putts of more than 15 feet during his second round, including a 40-foot eagle putt at six and nearly had another at the 12th, but missed the shorter eagle try from 7 feet.
“It’s kind of funny how this sport works, right?” Grillo said. “You hit it to 10 feet and you miss it, but you hit it to 35, 40 feet, 45 feet even and you make it. It’s a funny game.”
Tarren, a 31-year rookie from England, can relate. He switched putters for the first round and couldn’t buy a putt so he ended that trial and stuck it back in his locker, retrieving old faithful, an Odyssey No. 7 that he has used for seven or eight years now.
“It got me out here,” Tarren said. “Sometimes it just needs to be benched just to fire itself back up.”
Tarren began his season with seven missed cuts and a disqualification but has found his stride and entered the week at No. 146 in the FedEx Cup Playoffs with work still to do to retain his card for next season. Tarren had a 45-foot putt to set the 3M Open tournament course record, but settled for 63.
“I’ve got nothing to lose and a lot to gain,” said Tarren, who hit all 18 greens in regulation on Friday. “I’m just going to keep the foot to the floor and make as many birdies as possible…I don’t know what it is, but I feel calm, I feel chilled, I feel confident.”
That might also describe the mood of Tony Finau, who at No. 17 in the world is the top-ranked player in the field this week after Hideki Matsuyama withdrew Thursday, and playing a course he has always enjoyed. Finau finished T-3 in 2020 and improved to 43 under in 14 career rounds at TPC Twin Cities. He posted a bogey-free 68 to finish at 7-under 135 and three off the lead. He, too, was pleased to see a few putts start to drop.
“It was nice to get one on 7, which was my 16th hole,” he said of the 22-foot birdie putt. “I felt like I had a bunch of looks beforehand that weren’t going in and it was nice to roll one in on my way home.”
The 32-year-old Finau has made the Land of 10,000 Lakes a regular stop for him. He has first and second cousins who live nearby and loves renting a house near the course for his extended family.
“I’m far from a fisherman, but it’s the one time of year I know I’m going to go fishing on the lakes out here,” he said. “My family and I usually get a house around here. Nothing but lakes around here, so no shortage of fish. It’s quite fun for my family to be here.”