Minnesota is welcoming the men's PGA Tour to town this week with the 3M Open taking place in Blaine.
Practice rounds began Tuesday, and on Wednesday the tournament hosts their pro-am along with more practice rounds.
It's the best field in the 3M Open's short history, with numerous top pro players chasing points in the race for the FedEx Cup during what is traditionally a difficult time to get players to commit, the week after the British Open, explains 3M Open Tournament Director Mike Welch.
"We have right now 63 of the top 125 players in the world, in the official world golf ranking," says Welch. "It's by far our deepest field. And in that, really popular golfers that are in that top 125, and then some that are just really good young golfers that are going to be names shortly."
Welch told WCCO's Vineeta Sawkar on the Morning News that some of the golfers arrived over the weekend after missing the cut at the British Open.
"That is always a challenge, but, you know, I think they were able to get some direct flights, a lot of the guys arrived Sunday, some arrived Monday," Welch said. "Course opens up (Tuesday)."
The gates opened early, 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday with two starting times for the pro-am, morning and afternoon. Actual tournament play will get started Thursday at 6:50 a.m. off of both the first and tenth tees.
In the field of 156 is defending champion Jhonattan Vegas, who finished 56th in the British Open. Two of the top four finishers in the Open Championship are actually teeing it up at the 3M this year as well. Chris Gotterup will play after a third place finish behind champion Scottie Scheffler. And the first man ever from China to play in a final group at a major championship, Li Haotong, is playing.
Also notably in the field this week is former 3M champ Tony Finau, major champion Wyndham Clark, former U.S. Open champ Gary Woodland, and up-and-coming Maverick McNealy who is now ranked 18th in the world. Sam Burns, who held the 54-hole lead at the U.S. Open in June and finished T-7, is also playing very well and is considered one of the pre-tournament favorites.
At the conclusion of the Regular Season (following the 3M Open and next week's Wyndham Championship), the top 70 players in the FedExCup standings are eligible to play in the FedExCup Playoffs, a series of three events. Points earned during the FedExCup Regular Season carry over to the first two Playoffs events, which makes this year's 3M and the Wyndham so crucial to players sitting on that top-70 bubble.
The first FedExCup event is the St. Jude Championship, held from August 7-10 at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.
This is the seventh year of the 3M Open and no golfer has won the tournament in consecutive years.
There's also some music involved this year, with a Saturday evening concert from country artist Lee Brice. More details on that show available here.
3M Open Preview
Site: Blaine, Minnesota, the TPC Twin Cities. Yardage: 7,431. Par: 71.
Prize money: $8.4 million. Winner's share: $1.512 million.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 3-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 12-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2-5 p.m. (CBS).
Defending champion: Jhonattan Vegas.
FedEx Cup leader: Scottie Scheffler.
Last week: Scottie Scheffler won the British Open and Ryan Gerard won the Barracuda Championship.
Notes: Only two tournaments remain on the PGA Tour schedule before the top 70 qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs. ... Adam Scott and Wyndham Clark are among some three dozen players who signed up for the 3M Open having played the British Open last week. That list includes Chris Gotterup, who finished third in his Open debut, and Li Haotong of China, who played in the final group with Scottie Scheffler. ... Maverick McNealy at No. 18 in the world is the highest-ranked player. Also playing in Minnesota are Sam Burns and past champion Tony Finau. ... Jordan Spieth says he likely will add the Wyndham Championship next week to boost his FedEx Cup standing. ... Among those on the outside with two weeks to go are Scott (No. 85) and Gary Woodland (No. 78). ... Gotterup has gone from No. 158 in the world to No. 27 in two weeks.
Next week: Wyndham Championship.