3M moments: Hideki Matusyama takes 9 on 18 (and quits); 2020 champ looks a lot different
Updates from around the TPC Twin Cities course, including notes on Emiliano Grillo, Troy Merritt, Jeff Overton and 2020 winner Michael Thompson.
July 22, 2022 at 11:50AM
Sungjae Im. Starting on the back nine, he shook off a bogey on No. 13 and saved par on 18 despite putting a shot into the water. Im played the front nine in 31 shots, including birdie putts of 15, 8, 23 and 26 feet. He's tied with Scott Piercy for the first-round lead.
Toss that card
Hideki Matsuyama. The highest-ranked player at the 3M Open (14th in the world rankings) and the only one inside the FedEx Cup Playoffs top 10 (eighth) went through an entire sleeve of golf balls on the 18th hole en route to a quadruple-bogey nine. He shot 6-over-par 77 and withdrew from the tournament.
On the course with ... Emiliano Grillo
Take away that pesky Road Hole at St. Andrews in the first round of the British Open, and Grillo has put together quite the month. That continued Thursday at the 3M Open with a bogey-free 4-under-par 67 that leaves him two shots out of the lead.
Grillo was runner-up at the John Deere Classic over 4th of July weekend, which booked him a trip to Scotland via the Open Qualifying Series. Like many, Grillo struggled on No. 17 at the Old Course and made double bogey on the way to a 78. He fared 10 shots better in Round 2 (including a birdie at 17) but missed the cut by a stroke and turned his focus to TPC Twin Cities.
"I was just trying not to get frustrated, because the more frustrated you get, the harder this sport is," Grillo said. "I couldn't afford to get frustrated, and here we are with a good result."
Grillo on Thursday missed a 7-foot birdie putt on the tricky No. 9, his last hole of the day, but afterward didn't want to dwell on one stroke when the others were so promising.
"Everything worked," Grillo said. "If I can take everything into [Round 2], into the next 40 years, I will do that."
3M Moment
If you don't recognize the 2020 3M Open champion, you're not alone.
"Nobody has," he said.
Michael Thompson has grown a mountain-man beard since he defended his title in Blaine last summer.
"I've had it for a year now," Thompson said. "I feel cooler with the beard, because I'm not getting sunburned on my face. Then in the wintertime, it's insulating."
He said he grew it and wears it for a simple reason.
"My wife, she loves it," Thompson said. "That's why it's still here."
Thompson shot 1 over in Round 1.
Chip shots
- Shot of the day goes to Seung-Yul Noh of South Korea. He got to red numbers in stunning fashion, jarring a shot out of the rough from 166 yards away for eagle on No. 9, his last hole of the day. He is four shots back of the leaders.
- Spring Lake Park graduate Troy Merritt shot a 1-over 72, while Edina native Mardy Fish limped to a 10-over 81.
- Robert Garrigus played 16 holes in 11 over and withdrew, citing fatigue.
Hole of the Day
No. 2, 455-yard par-4: No. 18 gets all the attention, and rightfully so. But Thursday the second hole played the role of beast, playing to more than a half-stroke over par with 23 double-bogeys or worse.
Quote of the Day
"I hate to say shooting 77's a win, but in a way, it's a win. You've got to start somewhere," Jeff Overton, after shooting 6-over-par in his first PGA Tour round in more than five years because of complications from a spinal infection.
Frankie Capan III, who will be playing on the PGA Tour next year, finished at 13 under par at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship.
