Seamus Power carded a four-under 67 on day one of the PGA Tour’s 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota and it’s largely due to a strong back nine that the Waterford man is sitting T35.
After bogeying the second and ninth holes, Power commanded the back nine, birdieing three of the last five holes.
The 38-year-old didn’t let wayward tee shots dictate his round as he scrambled well, including a superb birdie from the thick rough on 16.
On the par-5 18th hole, Power rifled in a 240-yard approach to the front edge of the green, setting him up nicely for birdie.
Adam Svensson takes the round one lead after a flawless performance, shooting a bogey-free 60 – a new course record at TPC Twin Cities.
“Yeah, it was great. I had a great range session today. Just really putted amazing, I made a bunch of breakers. It was probably my best putting round I ever had so I’m pretty happy,” he said.
It seemed as though the 31-year-old Canadian couldn’t miss a putt. The pick of the bunch being a long putt drained for eagle on the 18th hole.
“I just didn’t want to leave it short, it was carrying a little bit of speed and Jace gave me a good line and it just happened to go in,” Svensson explained.
Max Homa put on an exhibition in approach play, hitting 18/18 greens in regulation but struggled with the flat stick, finishing his opening round at five-under-par.
“I played awesome, probably the worst I could have shot. Hit it so well. Rolled it fine, just couldn’t really make a lot of putts. It was nice to lip one in on the last. Yeah, just a really good round of golf,” the six-time PGA Tour winner said.
Homa finds himself in a tricky situation this weekend as he currently sits at no.102 in the FedEx Cup Season-Long Standing and has his eyes on the playoffs.
“Yeah, it’s really hard to compartmentalise that,” he added. “Yeah, I need to win. I really need to win because my wife’s pregnant and I need to go home. We have like two weeks left. It’s a little extra stressful, but I think the only way that you can go out and win a golf tournament is by not exactly trying to win a golf tournament. So it’s a weird headspace.”
Chris Gotterup continues his fine form with a bogey free 63, which has him tied for fourth after day one.
The 26-year-old is enjoying his fine flurry of form, riding the wave of his Genesis Scottish Open win and his top three major finish in the Open Championship last week in Portrush.
“Someone asked me last week if you’ve ever been on a heater and I said I guess this is kind of my first one. Yeah, you know, I’m just going to try to ride it out as long as I can. I feel like I’ve been playing well and yeah, just trying to do what I can to keep the ball in front of me and just really try to play the golf course the right way,” he said.
2024 3M Open champion Jhonattan Vegas scored a respectable three-under round, leaving him just outside the top 50.
FULL SCORING
