The 2022 3M Open may someday be remembered as the place for Tony Finau’s third career Tour win – but for now it’s recognized more as the site of Scott Piercy’s epic collapse. This was Piercy’s tournament to win as he held the course record after 54 holes, but Sunday was not his day.
Finau came to TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota as the 12/1 betting favorite. Him, Hideki Matsuyama, and Sung-jae Im were the three biggest names at the event, with Im finishing in a tie for second but Matsuyama withdrawing after a 77 on Thursday.
Piercy was a 125/1 betting underdog heading prior to Thursday’s first round, a ticket that looked almost guaranteed to cash heading into the back nine.
Give Finau Credit
While Piercy’s meltdown is going to sting for a while, perhaps there’s nobody better than Finau – who has 10 runner up finishes in his career – to lose to. Finau tied for third at this event in 2020 and set the final round record this year with his five shot comeback.
Finau won the Northern Trust in 2020-21 but prior to that his only Tour win was at the Puerto Rico Open in 2015-16. His win in the Twin Cities was even more impressive considering he was coming off a 28th place finish at the Open Championship the weekend prior and making the long trek from Scotland to Minnesota.
With the win Finau pockets a cool $1.35 million and jumps from 30th to 17th in FedEx Cup standings. Finau has also climbed to seventh in President’s Cup rankings, with the top six given automatic berths for the event in September.
Hard Not to Feel for Piercy
The 43-year-old Piercy had this one in the bag through the first seven holes on Sunday, but then the bottom fell out. He bogeyed 8 and 9 which had him anxious before the turn, and then bogeyed 11, 13,15, and 17 while also adding a triple on 14 for a disastrous 76 which dropped him to fourth.
Piercy has won four times on the Tour, but not since a team event in the 2017-18 Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Even with the atrocious 76 on Sunday he still finished just four strokes back of Finau, a testament to just how good Piercy was – through 61 holes that is.
TPC Twin Cities Did Not Disappoint
Aside from a six hour rain delay on Saturday, it was a nice spotlight weekend for TPC Twin Cities in just the fourth 3M Open. The course proved difficult as Piercy, as well as Emiliano Grillo who had a triple bogey on the 7th on Sunday, can attest.
This tournament drew some tough scheduling the weekend after the Open, but Finau and Im being at the top of the leaderboard was great for fans. Rickie Fowler made some noise at times over the weekend as well and the fact that Piercy – who looked like he was going to win in a blowout – melted down was at the very least entertaining for the crowd.
