Sepp Straka could be favorite at 3M Open after second-place finish at British Open

Still a wee bit jet-lagged after flying to Minnesota from the United Kingdom following his runner-up finish in the British Open last weekend, Sepp Straka attended Tuesday night's Twins game at Target Field and slept so hard he didn't hear the heavy overnight thunderstorms.

He awoke Wednesday feeling refreshed and ready to attack TPC Twin Cities in Blaine when 3M Open play commences Thursday.

"It's a great course. It's a lot of fun," said Straka, who has five top-10 finishes this season including a win at the John Deere Classic earlier this month. "You can make a lot of birdies out there, but there's a lot of water and a lot of trouble, so you definitely have to be pretty accurate with your play. It's a really well-designed course and it's in incredible shape."

At 15th in the FedEx Cup standings, Straka sits in a comfortable position. The PGA Tour playoffs kick off in two weeks with the top 30 eventually qualifying for the Tour Championship in late August.

Already planning to skip next week's regular-season finale, it would have been easy for Straka to likewise withdraw from the 3M after pocketing north of $1 million to go along with 202.5 Fed Ex Cup points Sunday. Instead Straka ditched the opportunity for rest and stuck to his plan.

"It's good to stay competitive going into the playoffs," Straka said. "I'll have next week off to kind of recharge the batteries, but hopefully this will help keep me sharp."

Besides, Straka has eyes on bigger prizes as well.

He has no doubt caught the attention of European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald for September's matches in Rome. And a year from now, Straka hopes to represent his home Austria in the Paris Olympics as he did four years ago in Tokyo.

"I've been thinking about it for a while now, but you just can't really let it affect your play," Straka said. "You still have to play good golf and hopefully you either qualify outright or get picked [for the Ryder Cup]. My goal is to just play some good golf up until then and hopefully I can make that team."

It's been a breakthrough season for Stillwater's Frankie Capan III on the Korn Ferry Tour. But rather than play this week in Glenview, Ill., Capan accepted an exemption into the 3M Open. He'll sleep in his own bed, get some home-cooked meals and have scores of well-wishers in the gallery.

His mother, Charlynn, will work as his caddie. It's a job she's had on and off since Korn Ferry Q-school last fall.

"I feel like our relationship has only gotten better," Capan said. "There are some days if we have a tough day that we want our space a little bit, but if anything, I only see our, you know, mother-son relationship getting deeper and better as the time's gone on."