Hollis Cavner on the first 3M Open: 'It was more than I could have hoped for'

Text messages from colleagues and friends as far away as Sweden and South Africa reached 3M Open executive director Hollis Cavner's cellphone overnight Sunday and well into Monday, each sender buzzing about the fabulous finish that crowned 20-year-old rookie Matthew Wolff champion in the PGA Tour's return to Minnesota for the first time in 50 years.

"A couple of them said they never watch golf on television, and they couldn't turn it off," Cavner said. "Everybody commented how great it looked on TV, and nobody could believe the finish."

Wolff's 26-foot eagle putt from off TPC Twin Cities' 18th green in the day's final pairing trumped the short eagle putt five-time tour winner Bryson DeChambeau made just ahead of him. It moved Wolff to 21 under par, one shot better than DeChambeau and fellow rookie Collin Morikawa.

Cavner worked the past eight years seeking the return of a yearly event to Minnesota. Wolff's winning eagle decided an inaugural 3M Open from which a tented village across the Blaine course arose these past three months and now will take two weeks to dismantle.

On Monday, he accepted congratulations from well-wishers while he and his Pro Links Sports staff add to a binder of new fan-centric ideas for next year, which include a hilltop fan zone that overlooks four front-nine holes, more concession stands and canopied grandstands that shade the sun.

Weather delayed competition only once briefly and the wind barely blew over the former sod farm while some of the game's best players scored low every day, but not ridiculously so.

"It was more than I could have hoped for," Cavner said.

Cavner declined to reveal attendance numbers for the large galleries that gathered, particularly on the weekend. He had said general-admission tickets would be sold without limit until parking lots daily reached a 45,000-fan capacity, which they didn't.

"We want to go bigger and do more," he said.

Superstar Phil Mickelson missed the Friday cut and didn't play the weekend. World No. 1-ranked Brooks Koepka and 2015 PGA winner Jason Day advanced but finished well behind in a field that had six players tied for the lead in Sunday's final hour.

"It was great playing here," said Day, who placed 66th. "Fans are phenomenal. I think they're very grateful to have us here and vice versa: We're very thankful to have a new event on the schedule where we can come to Minnesota and play. I had never been here before, and I really enjoyed myself."

Mickelson called Minnesotans "terrific," the course "wonderful" and in "great shape" before he departed early.

"I really enjoyed my time here," he said. "It's a little shorter than I wanted."

Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska has had U.S. Opens and PGA Championships as well as the unforgettable 2016 Ryder Cup, but this was the first annual tour event since the 1969 Minnesota Golf Classic was played at Braemar in Edina.

Minnesotan Tom Lehman, with the late Arnold Palmer, co-designed the original course layout two decades ago, and Lehman redesigned it last fall to toughen it for PGA Tour players.

He also played on the same sponsor's exemption that Wolff and Morikawa did and at age 60 tied for 58th place at 7 under par, just ahead of both Day and Koepka.

He called the tournament a "huge success" because of great support from "great fans" who turned out in "big" numbers.

"I thought the golf course played extremely well," Lehman said. "It gives up scores, but there's nothing crazy going on out there, which I think is good. What I feel good about is if you go really low, you really have to earn it. That's all you really want in golf, to be rewarded for the good shots and penalized for the bad ones."

Koepka on Sunday praised the course's design but remarked Friday on its conditioning.

"Unfortunately, there are a lot of ball marks and a lot of divots," Koepka said. "It looks like it has been played a lot. It has had a lot of traffic over the last couple weeks and months, which is kind of unfortunate."

But Koepka also called TPC Twin Cities course "one of the best we play all year" and said, "I really like it. It's a place I want to come back to. I enjoy the layout and the setup of this place."

Day said he'd prefer "a little firmer conditions and quicker greens" from a course that remained soft even after the rains stopped on Thursday.

Both Koepka and Day said they'd like to return.

"I would definitely come back," Day said. "I don't know when for sure, but I'd come back."

The 3M Open changes dates next year, moving from July 4th week to a permanent one July 23-26, the week after the British Open. The Tokyo Summer Olympics start that same week, and Day is aimed toward that.

"I'm hoping I'm not here next year if it's conflicting," he said. "After that, it'd be nice to come back and play."