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The PGA Tour heads to the midwest for the first ever 3M Open which will be held at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota from July 4-7, 2019.
The last time the PGA tour was in Minnesota was way back in 2009 for the 2009 PGA Championship at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska. Now the Land of 10,000 Lakes gets a regular PGA tour event starting this year and that is the 3M Open. 3M had hosted the 3M Championship on the Champions Tour since 2001 at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota. But with that partnership ending in 2018, the PGA Tour has replaced that with a regular tour event instead.
The TPC Twin Cities is a private golf club that is located within the subdivision of Deacon’s Walk in Blaine, Minnesota. The 18-hole and 7,164 yards long golf course was designed by Arnold Palmer in consultation with Tom Lehman. It is a member of the Tournament Players Network Club which is operated by the PGA Tour. The par-72 championship course has an elevation of 900 feet, a course rating of 75.4 and a slope rating of 143. The course record score is a 60 accomplished by Paul Goydos during the 2017 3M Championship.
As of June 30, seven of the world’s Top 30 golfers have already placed their names among the 156-golfer field who will vie for the 2019 3M Open title. Those seven are led by world #1 Brooks Koepka.who is on a roll right now in the 2019 PGA season. Joining Koepka in the field are the likes of #8 Bryson DeChambeau who is the only other Top 10 golfer ( aside from Koepka ) in the OWGR to commit so far, #16 Tony Finau, #18 Jason Day, #25 Patrick Reed, #28 Phil Mickelson and #29 Keegan Bradley.
Notable names absent from the 3M Open field are the usual betting favorites led Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, Francesco Molinari, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood and Gary Woodland who recently won the 2019 U.S. Open. That said, with only four out of the 156-player field to be determined by qualification, the stage is all but set for the 2019 3M Open.
Who Are The Favorites?
Brooks Koepka is the world’s top-ranked golfer according to the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR). The 29-year old from West Palm Beach in Florida, USA is also the #2 player in the FedEx Cup rankings and has won four out of the last nine major tournaments he’s entered. Koepka is coming off a pedestal 57th place finish at the Travelers Championships last June 23rd but he has six Top 10 finishes in 2019 including a win at the 2019 PGA Championship, a T2 at the 2019 Masters and a second place finish at the 2019 U.S. Open. Although you could argue that Koepka has only shown up in big tournaments this year, winning the inaugural 3M Open could be big enough to motivate him on 4th of July weekend.
Bryson De Chambeau is the only other Top-10 golfer entered in the 2019 3M Open. The 25-year old from Modesto, California has 7 Top 25 finishes this season but with only four in the Top 10. His only win so far was at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. De Chambeau missed the cut in three out of his last six tournaments played in but he is coming off a T8 effort at the Travelers Championship.
Tony Finau is 16th in the OWGR and has a total of 8 Top 25 finishes with 3 Top 10’s this golf season. His best finish of the year has been a second place finish at the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge last May 2 but he was also a T5 at the 2019 Masters. However, Finau has missed the cut in his most recent three tournaments entered.
Jason Day is the 18th best golfer in the world according to the OWGR. The 31-year old from Australia has a total of 11 Top 25 finishes with 6 Top 10’s this season. Day’s best finish this year was a T4 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am but he joined Finau as T5 at the 2019 Masters. He didn’t finish higher than 23rd in his next four tournaments after Augusta but is coming off a T8 at the Travelers Championship.
Patrick Reed is #25 in the OWGR but hasn’t been that impressive this year with only one Top-10 finish. Reed has not finished higher than 28th since the start of March. Then there is Phil Mickelson, the 49-year old golf star. Mickelson is currently ranked 28th but won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February. He’s missed the cut in three out of his last five tournaments played.
Who Wins?
No question, Brooks Koepka will be the top golf betting favorite to win the 2019 3M Open when the odds are out. It will be interesting to see how much he will be priced and that could play a factor in picking him to win this tournament outright. But when it comes to who has the best shot at winning this, Koepka is your man.
Koepka has ascended to the top spot in the OWGR after being one of the best performers during golf’s major tournaments. Koepka won the 2019 PGA Championship and was second in the other two majors that have taken place so far this year. However, he only has six Top 10 finishes this year and he has finished outside the Top 40 in his last two non-majors starts.
But don’t think that Koepka will just go to cruise control this weekend. Not only does he have a chance to right the ship for his non-major tournament performances, but he also has the chance to become the 3M Open’s inaugural winner. Not only that, if Koepka finished inside the Top 7 at the 3M Open, he will dislodge Matt Kuchar on top of the FedEx Cup list standings, put him at world #1 in both the OWGR and FedEx Cup. With plenty on the line for him, I think Brooks Koepka wins the first ever 3M Open. Prediction: Brooks Koepka.
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