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Golfweek’s Adam Schupak discusses the third round of play from TPC Twin Cities for the 3M Open.
Golfweek’s Adam Schupak discusses the third round of play from TPC Twin Cities for the 3M Open.
Michael Thompson and Richy Werenski are all tied atop the 3M Open leaderboard, but who will “step up” on Sunday?
On the 18th hole at TPC Twin Cities, Michael Thompson faced a critical decision.
Having already hit his tee shot into the water lining the right side of the dogleg-right par 5, Thompson, leading by one stroke, had 267 yards to the flag. Should he go for the glory or lay up and try to minimize his mistake? Thompson’s caddie Damian Lopez had a pretty good idea what he should do and let him know.
“It’s time to step up.”
After all, TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota is an Arnold Palmer designed course, and The King would certainly say to go for broke. Thompson ripped an adrenaline-laden fairway wood over the water and on to the green, but it had too much juice and caught the back bunker. But Thompson splashed to within inches of the hole for a tap-in par and a share of the 54-hole lead with Richy Werenski. Afterwards, Thompson put into words how big that shot was for his confidence going into Sunday’s final round.
3M Open: Tee times | Leaderboard | Best photos | How to watch
“There’s plenty of shots out here on Tour, especially this golf course with the water, where you just need to I like to say,’Just sack up and hit the shot.’ To be able to do that, hit a good, quality golf shot that almost held the green and then to get that up and down with that bunker shot, I mean, I’m honestly just proud of myself for stepping up,” he said.
Despite conceding that he fought some early nerves, Thompson strung together three birdies in a row, starting at the fifth and when he made a two-putt birdie at the par-5 12th hole, he owned a four-stroke lead. And yet by the time he opted to go for the green at 18 with his third shot (after a penalty), Thompson’s lead was on the verge of vanishing. His lone bogey of the day at 17 en route to shooting 3-under 68 combined with three birdies in the final four holes by Ricky Werenski has the two 36-hole leaders knotted again at 15-under 198.
Back-to-back birdies.@tonyfinaugolf is making a charge.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/8YW1bxQMuU
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 25, 2020
“To finish with that par on 18 is huge,” said Thompson, who celebrated with a fist pump. “I really wanted that par, I didn’t want to compound the mistake I made on 17. I think that’s going to bode well for me tomorrow.”
Sunday is setting up for a sprint to the finish line with 12 golfers within four strokes of the lead. Werenski, 28, is bidding for his maiden PGA Tour title while Thompson, 35, won his lone title seven years ago at the Honda Classic. Tony Finau (69) and former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel (66) are the closest pursuers, two strokes behind. Finau, who fired his caddie this week and has swing instructor Boyd Summerhays on the bag, has just one victory to his credit at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open and has the most top-eight finishes with 24 of any player without a win on Tour in the last four seasons. It’s time for him to “step up” on Sunday. Schwartzel, a 35-year-old South African, has two career Tour victories and is returning from injury.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance,” Schwartzel said. “That really was the goal coming into this week, at least have a chance to win.”
“That’s better than very good.”
@WerenskiR in the ZONE as he looks to card his second birdie in three holes.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/QaExBMhfBB
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 25, 2020
Max Homa, whose lone win came at the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship, is solo fifth at 12-under par after 64. Cameron Tringale did one better, shooting a tournament-best 8-under 63 and is part of a six-way tie at 11 under. Of the 12 players within four strokes of the lead heading into the final round, only Ryan Moore and Nick Watney with five wins apiece have hoisted a trophy more than two times on the Tour. For Thompson, the 3M Open is the first time he has led or shared the lead entering the final round since his victory in 2013.
“I haven’t been in this position in a long time,” Thompson said. “It was nice to get my feet wet.”
Last year, it took an eagle at the 72nd hole for Matthew Wolff to win the inaugural 3M Open. Whoever is going to claim the title this year will, in the words of Lopez, have to “step up.”
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Golfweek’s Adam Schupak discusses the second round of play at TPC Twin Cities for the 3M Open.
Golfweek’s Adam Schupak discusses the second round of play at TPC Twin Cities for the 3M Open.
Werenski is seeking his first PGA Tour title while Thompson hoisted his lone trophy in 2013. They are tied at 12 under at TPC Twin Cities.
Jay Seawell, Michael Thompson’s coach at Albama used to tell the former Crimson Tide golfer, “Go play Michael Thompson golf.” It was his way of telling Thompson that his game was good enough to compete with anyone in the world.
For the first 36 holes of the 3M Open, Thompson, 35, has done just that. He followed up Thursday’s 7-under 64 by shooting a 5-under 66 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota, and shares the 36-hole lead with Richy Werenski at 12-under 130.
“I think it’s just keeping it simple,” he said when asked to describe what ‘Michael Thompson golf’ meant to him. “The big thing is just try not to overpower the golf course, stay within myself, make good, comfortable swings, aggressive swings to good targets, be aggressive to pins when I can, when I have good numbers, and then if I’m kind of in between, then I kind of play away from the hole a little bit.”
3M Open: Tee times | Betting odds | Fantasy golf | TV
That philosophy, along with a return this season to the fade he grew up playing, has worked quite well this week for Thompson, who entered the 3M Open ranked 151st in the FedEx Cup standings and needs to climb into the top 125 to qualify for the Playoffs, which begin next month.
After hitting all 18 greens in regulation on Thursday, Thompson rolled in seven birdies and one bogey on Friday, stringing together three in a row beginning at the fourth hole and pitching in over a bunker from 60 feet at 14 for another. Thompson, whose lone Tour win came at the 2013 Honda Classic, is known as one of the Tour’s best putters and he ranks third this week in Strokes Gained: Putting, but he didn’t have to make a putt longer than 20 feet for birdie as his irons were dialed in. His lone bogey through 36 holes came at the 12th on Friday.
Picking up right where he left off.
@WerenskiR’s lead is now 2 at the @3MOpen. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/7H3AkLWleh
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 24, 2020
“That was the one kind of hole that I wish I could take back because I was in a perfect position to attack that flag from the fairway, flared it right and then just made bad mistake after bad mistake to make bogey,” he said.
Thompson’s philosophy of trying not to overpower the course is in stark contrast with that of Bryson DeChambeau, who isn’t in the field this week but has shown that distance gains can take you to the top of the FedEx Cup standings. Richy Werenski is more in Thompson’s camp, and credited his good play through 36 holes to “staying within myself and just kind of letting things happen.”
Werenski, 28, is one of only two players in the field having a better putting week than Thompson. The Georgia Tech product drained a 32-foot birdie at No. 11 and a 21-foot putt at 18 and took advantage of his early tee time.
“I’m a morning person. I wake up early anyways, so I was up at that 4 a.m. wake-up call this morning and I like that,” he said.
Werenski had a sick feeling a year ago when he finished T-39 at the Wyndham Championship in August, and finished No. 126 in the FedEx Cup standings to miss a spot in the Playoffs and had to play the Korn Ferry Tour Finals to improve his status for this season.
“I don’t really want to ever feel like that again, like I felt after Wyndham last year. That was not good,” said Werenski, who entered the week ranked No. 95.
Werenski, who is seeking his first Tour title, and Thompson were three strokes clear of their next closest competitor after the morning wave. That would be Matthew Wolff, who can bash it with the best of them, and is putting up a valiant effort in defending his title, posting a bogey-free 3-under 68. He is lurking at 9-under par. But so far, only Werenski’s game has matched some good old-fashioned Michael Thompson golf. That is why Thompson plans to keep it simple.
“Go play Michael Thompson golf and I’ll be right there on Sunday,” he said.
No slowing down for co-leader @WerenskiR.
#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/rUoDx6UnWc
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 24, 2020
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PGA Tour is back this week with the RBC Heritage which will be played at Harbour Town in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
Last week golf fans got a taste of what the PGA Tour will look like for the next three months and it definitely beat expectations. With the leaderboard looking like a major event, the Charles Schwab Challenge did not disappoint.
This week we have the RBC Heritage which will be played at Harbour Town in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
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With the shortened season, every event should look like a major with most of the top 20 golfers in the world set to play a much more intense tournament than years past. Here is a look at the live leaderboard for the RBC Heritage, we will keep this updated!
T-1. Ian Poulter (-7)
T-1. Mark Hubbard (-7)
T-3. Sebastian Munoz (-6)
T-3. Viktor Hovland (-6)
T-3. Michael Thompson (-6)
T-6. Jordan Spieth (-5)
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