The PGA Tour heads to Blaine, MN, for the annual 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities golf club. Since the tournament’s creation in 2019, the 7,431-yard par-71 course has featured long par-3s and hazards at every turn. With water coming into play at 15 holes, this course has many high-risk, high-reward opportunities. Successful players have been able to capitalize on the rewards as the winning score has reached as low as 24 under par.
TPC Twin Cities surrendered the second most birdies made on tour last season; the low scores will be available again this year as long as mistakes are avoided.
Each year, the 3M Open welcomes a diverse group of players. From major champions to the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour U, there’s an opportunity for well-experienced players or new tour participants to win the 3M trophy. Being a fairly standard, straightforward golf course, the winner will need to play aggressively off the tee and onto the greens. Mistakes may happen due to the number of hazards. Birdie opportunities will come, and players will need to capitalize on them.
Scottie Scheffler Is the 3M Open Favorite
Scottie Scheffler will be making his first start at the 3M Open. Coming off his tenth top-five of the season at Royal Birkdale, Scheffler will finish 2026 without a major victory. This is the first time since 2023 that he hasn’t won a major. With only one win this year, it’s been a disappointing year for the world’s best player in the prime of his career. He will hope to use the 3M Open to jump-start a late-season momentum boost to get him to the playoffs and the Tour Championship.
Considering the field for this event, Scheffler is in a field of his own. As the No. 1-ranked golfer in the world, the next closest golfer to him is ranked 30th. Like most courses, with a skillset like Scheffler, TPC Twin Cities sets up well for him. It demands successful tee-to-green play, hitting greens, and making birdies.
Coming off his T4 finish at The Open, Scheffler ranked first in strokes gained tee-to-green, and second in stroked gained approach in the entire field. However, he finished 60th in strokes gained putting. The good news for Scheffler — Twin Cities is home to many large, bent grass greens. Putting will be the easiest aspect of the course.
As long as Scottie Scheffler continues his dominance tee-to-green, he should have no problems being in contention come Sunday. And with how thin the field is this week, he should have no trouble holding off whoever is competing with him in the closing stretch.
Lucas Glover Is Playing His Best Golf
For someone who has only made one cut in four starts at the 3M Open, this year feels different for Lucas Glover. Finishing T7 in the first outing of the tournament in 2019, he hasn’t found his way at TPC Twin Cities during his starts in 2020, 2022, or 2023. He did rattle off his most recent wins at the Wyndham Championship and the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the two weeks following his missed cut in 2023. He’s a different player since the last time he played in Blaine.
Glover is playing the best golf of his season so far this year. He is coming off a T3 at the John Deere Classic and a T5 at the ISCO Championship. The 46-year-old had leads at both the John Deere and the ISCO, but could not close out the field. The six-time PGA Tour winner is coming off two quality starts and is ready to continue his momentum for the 3M. He’s excelling at many aspects that put him in a good position to compete at TPC Twin Cities this time around.
The strength of Glover’s game this season is his proximity. He leads all of the PGA Tour in proximity to hole. His approach game has been elite this season and he’s at his best with the irons and wedges in his hands. He is also fifth in driver accuracy percentage. When Glover is striking the ball in the correct spots, he’s setting himself up nicely on the greens. If he can continue to be accurate off the tee and be lights out on his approach, he should have no problem scoring low numbers.
Keith Mitchell’s Game Suits TPC Twin Cities
Keith Mitchell is no stranger to the 3M Open. He will be making his sixth start at TPC Twin Cities. The only time he hasn’t competed in this event was in 2022. With a pair of fifth-place finishes in 2021 (5) and 2023 (T5), Mitchell has found success at this event in the past. Although he missed the cut last year and finished T46 the year before, the strengths of the 34-year-old set him up well for this course.
One of Mitchell’s biggest aspects of his game is his ball striking ability. He ranks seventh in strokes gained off-the-tee and 19th in tee-to-green. On a moderately long course with wide fairways, that first tee shot will set the tone for the hole. With 22% of approach shots coming in from 175-200 yards out last year, which was the highest, the next shot sets up perfectly for Mitchell. He ranks eighth on tour in approaches from that distance. This will set him up for plenty of opportunities to make moves up the leaderboard.
On a course that demands birdies, Mitchell is comfortable with that expectation. He ranked eighth in birdie average with 4.27 per round and has the seventh most birdies on tour. Mitchell should have no problem putting himself in low-scoring situations. If he can avoid the main defense of Twin Cities, which is the water, his ball striking and scoring capabilities will set him up for success at the 3M.
TPC Twin Cities Will Reward Those Who Attack It
The 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities is expected to produce another low-scoring tournament. It will reward aggressive but accurate play, while punishing mistakes around its’ many water hazards. Scottie Scheffler enters as the clear favorite due to his elite tee-to-green game, while Lucas Glover and Keith Mitchell have the form and skill sets to challenge. Success this week will come down to capitalizing on scoring opportunities and avoiding costly errors.
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