Martin Mathews is siding with two young, powerful players ahead of the final round of the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities.
Golf betting tips: 3M Open final round
2pts e.w. Maverick McNealy to win the 3M Open at 13/2 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4)
1pt e.w. Cameron Champ to win the 3M Open at 16/1 (Betway 1/5 1,2,3,4)
We were treated to a dramatic third round on Saturday at the 3M Open as a combination of gusting winds and the courses abundance of water hazards meant the lead changed hands on several occasions.
Unusually the hole that caused as much carnage as any was a par-five, the 18th, and aided by a 12 from Sung Kang and an eight from Rickie Fowler the hole ended the day as the toughest ranked on the course and the toughest par-five on tour this season.
Once the dust had settled on the round the man who had earned himself a slender one-shot lead was Cameron Tringale, who sits on 12-under par. He is having a career year consistency-wise and with nine top-20s to his name, including four top-10s, he currently sits 40th in the FedEx Cup standings.
Through his consistency Tringale has leapfrogged Brian Davis to earn himself the dubious distinction of becoming the player to have earned the most money on the PGA Tour without posting a victory.
Tringale has done most of his damage on the greens this week, currently ranking second in putting, however his long game has been up down, shown by the fact that he lost shots in approach play both on Thursday and Friday and off the tee on Saturday.
A veteran of over 300 starts on the Tour, few would begrudge the likeable Californian that first title and maybe this will be his day, however with 10 players within two shots he makes no appeal at around the 3/1 mark, particularly as this will be the first time in all those starts that he has actually held the sole 54-hole lead.
Gary Woodland and MAVERICK MCNEALY sit one shot back of the lead on 11-under after dramatically contrasting pars at the aforementioned final hole, and both rate serious threats.
Woodland, by far the most experienced of this pair, will keep Tringale company on Sunday. At 126th in the FedEx Cup standings coming into the event, the 2019 US Open champion needed a big week at some stage soon and he has bounced back from a missed cut at the Open Championship thanks to a solid tee-to-green display and a strong putting performance.
Despite Woodland’s greater experience and obvious credentials my preference is for McNealy and I am happy to chance the youngster at the standout 13/2 with four places available each-way.
McNealy has been in a solid groove of late with four consecutive top-30 finishes coming in to this week and, unlike Tringale and Woodland, his putter has been the club that has actually held him back slightly over the first three days.
The youngster has gained a fraction under eight strokes from tee-to-green over the first three days, ranking third in this department, and Saturday saw him avoid all the watery perils on the course and go bogey-free. There will no doubt be some nerves on Sunday as he pushes for his maiden PGA Tour title but he was excellent when forcing Daniel Berger to pull out all the stops at Pebble Beach and, while he wanted to be in the final group, he's in an ideal position to strike.
A further shot back on 10-under we have a group of eight players and to be honest I don’t have enough column inches to run through in detail the credentials of them all.
Of the eight though it is harder to fancy tour journeymen Roger Sloan and Ryan Armour while, wonderful as it is to see Jimmy Walker back in contention again, it may just be he needs today to get the feel of being back in the mix again before he really sets his sights on a return to the winners' circle.
Pat Perez has caught fire with the putter over the past two days but you have to wonder if he can keep it going and two who appeal slightly more are Chez Reavie and Jhonattan Vegas, both of whom have winning experience in the post-Open week having won the Canadian Open three times between them.
That said the two I like the most from this bunch are CAMERON CHAMP and Charl Schwartzel, both of whom featured in my own pre-tournament preview.
Schwartzel bounced back well from an early double-bogey on Saturday and having finished third here last year this course clearly fits his eye.
The former Masters champion has been trending strongly of late and a third title on US soil soon would surprise nobody. My slight concern though is his approach play has not been firing on all cylinders the past two days and he'll sure need that to change.
After a scratchy Thursday, Champ has really clicked in all departments and is preferred at the prices.
The Californian ranks fourth for the week in putting and he has also gained shots off the tee, in approach play and from tee-to-green on Friday and Saturday. Granted he found the water twice on Saturday, however he still salvaged a par on 18 and as he said himself in his post-round interview bar a couple of poor swings he played excellently.
A two-time Tour winner, Champ’s talent is not in doubt and with both of these wins coming when he led or co-led through 54 holes he can clearly handle the Sunday pressure.
Today he is in a slightly different position in that he starts two back, however he makes plenty of appeal to me at the odds to bag his third title.
Posted at 1010 BST on 25/07/21
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