The 3M Open on Friday finalized its field for next week's tournament, one that includes world No. 1-ranked Dustin Johnson and 10 other major champions, including Masters winners Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed as well as Louis Oosthuizen and Gary Woodland.
World's No. 1 ranked Dustin Johnson, 10 other major champions commit to finalized 3M Open field
Masters winners Sergio Garcia, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson and popular Rickie Fowler are in PGA Tour's 156-player field at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine.
July 17, 2021 at 5:32AM
Popular Rickie Fowler and Tony Finau, ranked 17th in the world. also entered by the 4 p.m. Central deadline Friday. So did Brendon Todd, a two-time winner in 2020.
Combined, the 156-man field has won 263 PGA Tour events, led by Johnson's 24 career victories. Watson and Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker have each won 12 events.
Eight players ranked in the world's top 50 committed to play starting Thursday at TPC Twin Cities. Johnson and Reed (ninth) both are in the top 10. Garcia ranks 51st and Watson 54th.
Tournament director Mike Welch called a field with 23 of the top-ranked 70 players, for an event "sandwiched between the Open Championship and the Olympics, a testament to how PGA Tour players view our stop."
Former Gophers golfer Angus Flanagan received a 3M Open sponsor's exemption for the second consecutive summer, with executive tournament director Hollis Cavner predicting Great Britain's Walker Cup player will play on the PGA Tour, maybe sooner than later.
The field also includes three players with Minnesota connections — Troy Merritt, Tom Hoge and Erik van Rooyen.
Held the week after the British Open in England, the 3M Open recruited players to play a week before many of the world's top players will compete for their countries at the Tokyo Olympics.
Americans Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau are bound for Japan. Morikawa and DeChambeau battled down the final holes at the inaugural 2019 3M Open before Matthew Wolff defeated them both with an eagle putt from the fringe of the green to win his first PGA title.
Wolff is coming back to play in Blaine for the third time. The 2020 winner, Michael Thompson, will be back as well.
Spain's Garcia, South Africa's Oosthuizen and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo all declined to play for their countries and are scheduled to play this week in Blaine.
Johnson is as well. He played in last summer's 3M Open, shot 78 in the first round and withdrew shortly thereafter, citing an injury.
A flight paid for by players is being chartered to bring as many as 80 of them to Minnesota immediately after the British Open's final round finishes Sunday afternoon Twin Cities time.
Reed's commitment was announced Friday morning. Nicknamed "Captain America," he thrilled Minnesota golf fans with his play at the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club. His Sunday singles victory over Europe's Rory McIlroy was foremost among them during the Americans' convincing victory.
All players who committed to play next week can withdraw at any time.
This year's tournament will be played with spectators allowed after none were last July because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among big names set to compete in Wednesday's celebrity Compass Challenge are LPGA legend Annika Sorenstam and CBS' Amanda Balionis, actor Josh Duhamel and former Viking Kyle Rudolph, former Twin Joe Mauer and Vikings receiver Adam Thielen as well as NFL star Larry Fitzgerald and Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley.
Here are the golfers announced Friday for the 3M Open:
Byeong Hun An
Mark Anderson
Kiradech Aphibarnrat
Ryan Armour
Aaron Baddeley
Sangmoon Bae
Chris Baker
Ryan Blaum
Dominic Bozzelli
Keegan Bradley
Joseph Bramlett
Ryan Brehm
Scott Brown
Bronson Burgoon
Jonathan Byrd
Rafa Cabrera Bello
Rafael Campos
Sebastian Cappelen
Cameron Champ
Stewart Cink
Wyndham Clark
Austin Cook
Quade Cummins
MJ Daffue
Joel Dahmen
Cam Davis
Luke Donald
Jason Dufner
Tyler Duncan
Austin Eckroat
Matt Every
Tony Finau
Angus Flanagan
Rickie Fowler
Dylan Frittelli
Sergio Garcia
Brice Garnett
Brian Gay
Michael Gellerman
Doug Ghim
Rhein Gibson
Michael Gligic
Fabián Gómez
Will Gordon
Branden Grace
Lanto Griffin
Emiliano Grillo
Bill Haas
Chesson Hadley
Adam Hadwin
Brandon Hagy
James Hahn
Ryan Hall
Brian Harman
Scott Harrington
David Hearn
Lucas Herbert
Harry Higgs
Bo Hoag
Tom Hoge
Beau Hossler
Charles Howell III
Mark Hubbard
John Huh
Dustin Johnson
Sung Kang
Michael Kim
Chris Kirk
Patton Kizzire
Russell Knox
Satoshi Kodaira
Jason Kokrak
Matt Kuchar
Andrew Landry
Nate Lashley
Hank Lebioda
Nelson Ledesma
K.H. Lee
Tom Lewis
Luke List
Adam Long
Hunter Mahan
Peter Malnati
Ben Martin
Denny McCarthy
Tyler McCumber
Maverick McNealy
Troy Merritt
Keith Mitchell
Ryan Moore
Grayson Murray
Matthew NeSmith
Sean O'Hair
Louis Oosthuizen
Rob Oppenheim
John Pak
Cameron Percy
Mito Pereira
Pat Perez
Scott Piercy
J.T. Poston
Ted Potter, Jr.
Seamus Power
Andrew Putnam
Chez Reavie
Patrick Reed
Wes Roach
Patrick Rodgers
Sam Ryder
Adam Schenk
Charl Schwartzel
Chase Seiffert
John Senden
Robby Shelton
Roger Sloan
Brandt Snedeker
Brent Snyder
J.J. Spaun
Kevin Stadler
Scott Stallings
Kyle Stanley
Shawn Stefani
Brandon Stone
Sepp Straka
Robert Streb
Steve Stricker
Brian Stuard
Zack Sucher
Ben Taylor
Vaughn Taylor
Josh Teater
Michael Thompson
Brendon Todd
D.J. Trahan
Martin Trainer
Cameron Tringale
Kevin Tway
Peter Uihlein
Bo Van Pelt
Erik van Rooyen
Jhonattan Vegas
Kris Ventura
Camilo Villegas
Johnson Wagner
Jimmy Walker
Nick Watney
Bubba Watson
Richy Werenski
Vincent Whaley
Matthew Wolff
Gary Woodland
Four more players will be chosen from a Monday qualifier and there is a sponsor's exemption left as well.
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.
