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Don’t look now, but the PGA Tour is just two events away from the FedEx Cup Playoffs with this week’s 3M Open serving as the penultimate tournament of the regular season. With players jostling for position due to a stricter number of postseason participants, a bevy of competitors not typically seen at TPC Twin Cities are set to make an appearance.
The field is headlined by none other than two-time major champion Justin Thomas. Currently struggling through the worst season of his career, the 15-time PGA Tour winner finds himself just outside the coveted top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings and with work to do. The 30-year-old has collected only six top-20 finishes in 19 starts and has posted career-worst numbers in terms of total strokes gained, strokes gained approach and strokes gained putting.
Thomas will look to find something, and fast, as last year’s champion, Tony Finau, aims to garner momentum in the land of the lakes for the second straight season. Twice a winner this season, Finau is well-positioned for a postseason run as he ranks 10th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Cameron Young looks to keep a good thing going after strong starts at the John Deere Classic and The Open, as are Sepp Straka and Emiliano Grillo. Hideki Matusyama and Sungjae Im are outside key cutoff points in the FedEx Cup standings and hope to make in roads in a field littered with young stars like Ludvig Aberg, Nicolai Hojgaard and Sam Bennett.
2023 3M Open schedule
Dates: July 27-30 | Location: TPC Twin Cities — Blaine, MinnesotaPar: 71 | Yardage: 7,431 | Purse: $7,800,000
2023 3M Open field, odds
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
Sungjae Im (14-1)
Cameron Young (14-1): A switch of the golf ball at the John Deere Classic has seemingly rejuvenated Young’s sophomore season. Since returning to the ball he used in his rookie campaign, Young has notched back-to-back top-10 finishes and posted a whopping +15.28 strokes gained tee to green at Royal Liverpool. The 26-year-old is still in search of his maiden victory, and TPC Twin Cities could very well serve as his canvas as strong tee-to-green acumen has ruled the week more often than not in this event’s short history.
Tony Finau (16-1): The 3M Open kickstarted Finau’s 2022 with the first of his back-to-back victories. He nearly made it three in a row when he finished fifth at the St. Jude Championship, but one year later Finau looks like a shell of his former self. Since notching win No. 6 at the Mexico Open, Finau has three missed cuts with zero top-20 finishes in seven tournaments. While he remains in a solid spot for the postseason, his spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup Team may be in jeopardy.
Hideki Matsuyama (16-1): Apart from his missed cut at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Matsuyama has experienced a quiet string of consistency. Since the Players Championship, the man from Japan has made 10 cuts with seven of those efforts coming in the form of a top-25 finish. The bad news is Matsuyama only has one top-10 finish in that span with it coming at TPC Sawgrass. He arrives off a nice T13 effort at The Open and finished T7 in his 3M Open debut in 2019.
Sepp Straka (25-1)
Emiliano Grillo (25-1)
Justin Thomas (25-1): He is the elephant in the room. It is not often a player of Thomas’ caliber is adding events late in the season, but here we are. Since appearing to find something in his game at the Wells Fargo Championship, Thomas has played in seven tournaments with four missed cuts and only one finish inside the top 60. The short game that propped him up in the early stages of the season has abandoned him, and the rest of his game has fallen off a cliff. Could he randomly find something as he did at the Travelers Championship? Sure. Is it likely? No.
Ludvig Aberg (28-1): TPC Twin Cities has served as a breakthrough spot for young stars in the past, and Aberg is hoping history repeats itself. The young Swede arrives off the first missed cut of his PGA Tour career at the Scottish Open. Prior to experiencing the wrath of links golf, Aberg notched a T4 finish at the John Deere Classic and top-25 finishes at the Canadian Open and Travelers Championship. He is the best driver of the golf ball in this field, and it’s not particularly close.
Gary Woodland (35-1)
Adam Hadwin (35-1)
Cam David (35-1)
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