The first round of the 3M Open wasn’t the birdie-fest we’ve become accustomed to at TPC Twin Cities. Both waves played the course well over par on Thursday with the afternoon tee times getting the short end of that stick and averaging two over on the day.
Scott Pierce and Sungjae Im posted great rounds on Thursday morning as they shot 6-under 65s to take a two-shot edge into Round 2. Both players were sharp tee to green, but also gained more than four strokes on the greens. While they did most of their work on the greens, Tony Finau went out in the afternoon and did his work ball striking, gaining more than six and a half shots on the field in that metric. Finau and Emiliano Grillo posted impressive rounds of 4-under in the more difficult conditions and will get the advantage of trying to keep that momentum rolling on Friday morning.
The morning wave looks to have the edge once again on Friday as the winds will pick up throughout the day. I’ll look to grab some value leaning toward that edge as we enter Round 2 at the 3M Open.