The PGA Tour returns to Minnesota this week as it visits TPC Twin Cities for the 2025 3M Open. TPC Twin Cities was designed by the legend that is Arnold Palmer, as well going under a redesign by Tom Lehman to prepare for its PGA Tour debut, opening for play in 2000 and playing host to the PGA Tour since 2019. This year, the course will play as a Par 71, 7,431 yard layout.
TPC Twin Cities is a course suitable for both tour pros and weekend hacks alike, with wide fairways and sizable greens, as well as water hazards on nearly every hole that can derail scoring opportunities and plenty of fairway bunkers to catch offline shots. The emphasis this week will be on those with a hot putter and dialed-in irons, as there are tons of birdies to be made in this event, with every winner in the history of the event finishing at -15 or better for the week. Pars won’t do you much good this week, but bogeys are a must to avoid. One or two ill-timed water balls can be the deciding factor between winning the tournament or sinking down the leaderboard on the final day. A longer course by tour standards, being long from the tee will help your chances, but taking advantage of the bentgrass greens that are surprisingly receptive to approach shots will be vital for setting up the best putters with ideal scoring chances. This is one of a series of several summer events that traditionally serves as a birdie fest, so players must approach this event with cautious aggression. Play smart, but be bold. With many of the best taking a rest this week, the leaderboard is primed full of stories of young guns ready to break through for the first time and long-time veterans looking to revisit their glory days. With the Wyndham Championship serving as the regular season finale next week, everyone will be looking to break out of the crowd, lock in their Playoff spot and ensure their season is one to remember as they navigate their way around the Land of 10,000 Lakes this week.
The 3M Open was first held in 2019 and produces a unique blend of rising stars, journeymen and everything in between in its field each season. Among the favorites this week will be Sam Burns, Wyndham Clark, Rickie Fowler, Chris Gotterup, Maverick McNealy and Taylor Pendrith, as well as plenty of rising stars, including Akshay Bhatia, Luke Clanton, Kurt Kitayama, Michael Thorbjornsen, Jake Knapp and Davis Thompson, just to name a few.
The winners list is brief, just six in total, and no repeat winners in the history of the tournament. Past 3M Open winners include Matthew Wolff, Michal Thompson, Cameron Champ, Tony Finau, Lee Hodges and Jhonattan Vegas.
Last year’s edition was won by Jhonattan Vegas, who birdied two of his final four holes to pick up his first win in seven years by one stroke over Max Greyserman. Matt Kuchar and Maverick McNealy finished T-3, two strokes behind, while Taylor Pendrith finished in solo fifth, three strokes off the pace.
Patrick Rodgers is in free fall mode right now, with seemingly no end in sight. Rodgers enters this week on a real “heater,” missing the cut in each of his last five starts and in six of his last seven. Rodgers did have success earlier in the season, posting six top 25 finishes on the campaign, including a season-best T-3 finish at The Genesis Invitational. In the midst of the chaos, Rodgers has still been pretty solid on the greens, gaining strokes in four of his last five measured starts, but has struggled elsewhere, losing strokes on approach in seven of his last 10 measured starts and around the green in five of his last six measured starts. Rodgers, to me, is a risky fade, given his recent proficiency on the greens, as well as his past results in this event. Rodgers has made the cut in all four of his previous 3M Open starts, but has never finished inside the top 30 by week’s end. Given his ball striking struggles, I don’t expect Rodgers to have many birdie looks this week, which is why I predict Rodgers will head home early this weekend with a sixth consecutive missed cut.
2025 is on the verge of being a breakout season for Jacob Bridgeman, who has posted five top 10’s and seven top 25’s in 22 starts, highlighted by a career-best T-2 finish in the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. Bridgeman is far from an elite ball striker, ranking outside the top 100 in both Driving Accuracy Percentage and Greens in Regulation Percentage, but makes up for it with a great short game, ranking 40th in Scrambling, 23rd in Total Birdies and 7th in Strokes Gained: Putting. Bridgeman’s success this week will hinge on if he can put together a half decent week with his iron shots, as he has lost strokes on approach in five of his last eight starts. Bridgeman has scored well during the summer months, finishing T-26 last month at the Rocket Classic and finishing T-5 just a few weeks ago at the John Deere Classic. Bridgeman finished T-19 in this event last year and there’s no reason he can’t post another top 25 performance this week, too.
Emiliano Grillo has quietly put together a good season in 2025, with seven top 25 finishes in 20 starts, highlighted by a runner-up performance in a playoff loss to Brian Campbell at the John Deere Classic. Grillo’s game doesn’t exactly jump off the page in any one area, but he has been gaining strokes in five of the six major Strokes Gained categories this season. His iron play during his recent stretch of good play has been carrying him, gaining strokes on approach in eight of his last nine measured starts. Ultimately, this play is simply banking on Grillo’s past success in this event. Lowkey the face of the 3M Open, Grillo has been very successful in this event, posting three top 10’s and four top 25’s in five career starts, including a T-2 finish in 2022 and a T-3 finish in 2020. Grillo has had five top 20 finishes in his last eight tournaments starts, and I predict that he will capitalize on his past success in this event and utilize his recent consistency to pick up his second top 10 finish of the season.
Jake Knapp has been lurking in the weeds all season long, with three top 10’s and eight top 25 finishes in 20 starts, good enough to rank 55th in the FedEx Cup Standings as we enter the homestretch of the season. Knapp is solid through the bag this year, gaining strokes in five of the six major Strokes Gained categories, but really excels on the greens, ranking 12th in Strokes Gained: Putting and 7th in Total Birdies. Knapp’s biggest problem is putting together four solid rounds in the same week. Some days, he looks unstoppable, as evidenced by his eight rounds of 65 or better this season, including firing an opening round 59 on the way to a T-6 finish at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches. But his best finish his season (not including team events) is a T-4 finish a few weeks ago at the Rocket Classic, where he posted a second round 61 to leave himself in the hunt all weekend long. With a lot of the studs resting following the Open Championship last week, this event is seemingly wide open. Honestly, flip a 30-sided coin, as many players could win if the breaks fall their way. But against my better judgment, I’m trusting my gut and picking Jake Knapp to pick up his second career PGA Tour victory at the 3M Open!
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