When the professional golf tournament in Blaine made the shift from hosting the PGA Tour Champions to the PGA Tour — the top pro men’s golf tour in the world — in 2019, there was a question hanging over the event: How would TPC Twin Cities hold up to some of the best the game has to offer?
The 50-plus-year-old legends ripped up the course over three days each summer. Now, players who could hit it infinitely harder were set to take it on? It couldn’t happen as the course stood.
So, Tom Lehman guided an overhaul that lengthened holes and bodies of water, among other things, to make the course more PGA Tour tough. Not that the 3M Open didn’t want to see scoring. Tournament executive director Hollis Cavner’s consistent moniker has been the pursuit of “birdies and trainwrecks.”
And, for the most part, there’s been a good balance of both over the tournament’s first six years, as the course has held up remarkably well. In three of the past four editions, the winning score was no better than 17-under par — the same tally Scottie Scheffler posted to win The Open last week.
Adam Svensson got 65% of the way to that score on Thursday. The Canadian tied the course record — previously set in the 3M Championship — and set a new tournament record Thursday as he fired an 11-under round of 60. And his lead is just two strokes over Sam Stevens and Thorbjørn Olesen, with a hoard of others following closely behind.
Three golfers shot 8-under rounds of 63, including the red-hot Chris Gotterup, who tallied a win and a third-place finish in two weeks played across the pond.
Thirty-four players shot rounds of 66 or better. Seventy-two percent of the field is under par through one round. Svensson surmised Thursday marked the best he’s ever putted, and he did lead the field with nearly five strokes gained on the greens.
But Thursday marked the rare day on the PGA Tour where it was possible to score even while not rolling the rock well. Emiliano Grillo shot a 65, despite losing nearly 1.5 strokes to the field putting, as he stuck his approaches near the cup on nearly every hole. Only three of the 18 holes played over par in Round 1.
Cumulatively, the 156-player field shot 335-under par Thursday.
“This course, it’s a great course, but it’s pretty straightforward,” Stevens said. “Not a whole lot of adjustments, just sort of point and shoot, and make as many birdies as you can.”
TPC Twin Cities’ primary defense is frequently the wind, of which there was little to none on Thursday. That issue was compounded by the massive allotment of rainfall that came Wednesday, which wiped out three-quarters of the scheduled pro-am and severely softened the course.
The wet conditions forced the PGA Tour to instill a “lift, clean and place” protocol in which players can pick up their ball anytime it lands in a shortly mown area — such as the fairway — clean it and set it up however they’d like. That erases the opportunity for mud balls and guarantees a perfect lie, which is generally thought to shave a stroke or two off a pro’s score for a round.
Friday’s second round could potentially bring more of the same. The forecast suggests the morning wave of golfers will play its first nine holes in 2-3 mph winds, with the wind “maxing out” at 6 mph in the afternoon.
Again, benign.
If Thursday’s results are replicated in Round 2, 6-under will be required simply to play the weekend. It’s not unimaginable that Svensson, or someone else, will have the lead pushed out to 17-under by the end of Round 2.
“Still tomorrow, it’s going to be fairly soft,” surmised Rickie Fowler, who fired a 65 on Thursday.
Things will level out over the weekend with no more projected rain in the coming days and winds expected to reach double digits in miles per hour over the weekend.
Don’t expect TPC Twin Cities to surrender a score like the 31-under par Scheffler won the Byron Nelson with earlier this year at TPC Craig Ranch.
More trainwrecks are likely to come on Saturday and Sunday. Thankfully, there is enough past evidence to know the course can provide a legitimate test, even if it got embarrassed on Thursday.
“This course is still pretty challenging,” said Matti Schmid, who fired a 63 Thursday. “I think you get some crosswinds and there are some tee shots with water. You still have to drive it pretty well, and also some of the par 3s, like 17 you have to hit a really good shot.”
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