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Thunderstorms in the afternoon caused the start of the third round of the 3M Open 2022 to be brought forward and thus ideal scoring conditions for the participants. With no wind to speak of, accessible pin locations and a reduced scorecard runtime, numerous players took advantage of the Moving Day at TPC Twin Cities. Unfortunately for the field, that included Scott Piercy, who had a three-shot lead early in the third round and extended it to four after a round of 5-under 66.
The 43-year-old made par on his first two holes and then rattled off five consecutive birdies to reach 18-under, extending his lead over Emiliano Grillo to four shots. In the middle of one of those weeks when everything that can go well goes well, the only thing that could stop Piercy was Mother Nature and a blister on the bottom of his foot.
The forecast thunderstorms came a little earlier than expected and all players were dragged off the course as the final group entered the eighth hole. The game finally resumed after six hours and 38 minutes.
At one point reaching 19 under, a bogey on the final dropped Piercy to 18 under where he began the restart of play. While he has seen his lead over Grillo grow, there are still plenty of worthy contenders in the fight including pre-tournament favorite Tony Finau, who is just five shots behind.
the leader
1. Scott Piercy (-18): The man who led after Thursday and Friday will also lead after Saturday with a third round 5-under-66. To say that performance came out of nowhere would be an understatement given Piercy entered the 3M Open with just two top-20 finishes over the season and after missing four of his last six cuts.
Beginning the week outside of the top 125 of the FedEx Cup leaderboard, Piercy will catapult himself into the top 50 if he can hold out. It has been seven years since his last singles win and nervousness may have crept in during his 18th hole on Saturday as he threw his approach into the water, eventually resulting in a bogey. If those stay in place tomorrow, this tournament will be a completely different game.
Other contenders
2. Emiliano Grillo (-14)
T3. Doug Ghim and Tony Finau (-13)
5. Tom Hoge (-12)
T6. Sungjae Im and Greyson Sigg (-11)
Piercy’s lead seems insurmountable and while Grillo is traditionally the candidate to take him down, Finau might be a wiser choice. The two-time PGA Tour winner, who has plenty of firepower of his own, was incredible from tee to green in the first three days at TPC Twin Cities. Unfortunately, Finau could not build on this top performance on the greens. If he does it tomorrow, he should have a realistic opportunity to scare Piercy.
FedEx Cup implications to watch out for
It feels like just yesterday that the PGA Tour was in Hawaii for the start of the 2021-22 season. In the blink of an eye there are only two tournaments left once the 3M Open is over. Piercy illustrates the importance of a late season load and is expected to move up from 138th in the season race to 46th with a win.
While Piercy may advance to the second playoff event, others are only hoping to make it to the first. Chesson Hadley – last year’s 125th player – is set to make a similar climb from 143rd to 127th, while former world No. 1 Jason Day is expected to drop a few places to 125th. Other players to keep in mind while watching the finals include Patton Kizzire, Tyler Duncan and Matthias Schwab as they are in the postseason bubble.
2022 3M Open updated odds and tips
- Scott Piercy: 5/7
- Toni Finau: 9/2
- Emiliano Grillo: 5-1
- Doug Ghim: 9-1
- Tom Hoge: 18-1
- Sungjae Im: 22-1
- Greyson Sigg: 40-1
There aren’t many players listed under 100-1 as Piercy will be difficult to catch. However, the door opened on the 18th hole of his third round when he bogeyed on the achievable par 5 and put some of his competitors back in contention. If Piercy doesn’t do the job, expect Finau to do it. Despite this sentiment, the current number is a no bet as four shots over the course of 18 holes have a lot of ground to gain. Therefore, attacking Finau in a three-ball and allowing the tournament to go ahead may be the sensible decision.
