The PGA Tour will travel to Blaine, Minnesota this week for the 3M Open. This is a bad spot for the 3M Open to fall on the PGA Schedule. The best golfers in the world just played the Open Championship in Ireland. Most of them will need time to adjust back to the US time zones and take a mental break from playing in a major championship. Only three of the top-25 golfers in the World Golf Rankings will tee it up in Minnesota (Maverick McNealy, Sam Burns and Sungjae Im). This is not the best tournament for DFS Contests, but it is one that I have had some success at.
COURSE BREAKDOWN
TPC Twin Cities will be the course this week. It is a par 72 which plays 7,164 yards in length. Minnesota is the “Land of Lakes” so of course there are a lot of water hazards. But these are not normal golfers teeing it up this week. Most of the golfers should be able to use their length off-the-tee to take the water out of play.
The greens should be easy to hit and they do not have too much slope. TPC Twin Cities has Bentgrass greens with normal PGA Tour speeds. The ball typically roles true on this type of surface so I would expect more golfers to be able to sink long birdie putts then what we had last week.
Click here to see the course: TPC Twin Cities
3M OPEN KEY STATS
– Stroke Gained Approach
– Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green
– Ball-Striking
– Par 4 Scoring 400 – 450 Yards
– Birdie or Better %
Here is the recent form and course history for each golfer this week: History and Form
3M OPEN STRATEGY
My strategy for Cash Contest and Tournament Contests will be pretty much the same this week. When we get weak fields like this, the best thing to do is to use a “stars and scrubs” strategy. There is not a huge difference between the golfers priced between $7,500 and $6,500 so I will load up with three golfers from the $10K or $9K price ranges and pair them with three golfers from the low $7K or upper $6K price range. I will be a bit more balanced with my Cash Contest lineup because I really like Michael Thorbornsen this week. Most of my Tournament lineups will be pure stars and scrubs.
DRAFTKINGS CASH CONTEST
CHRIS GOTTERUP ($10,000): You need to start your Cash Contest lineup with Maverick McNealy or Chris Gotterup. McNealy has the better course history, while Gotterup has the better form. I just cannot pass up the ball-striking that Gotterup has right now. He ranks No. 1 SG Tee-to-Green, No. 3 in SG Approach, No. 5 in Ball-Striking, No. 5 in SG Putting, No. 5 in Scrambling and No. 1 in the Key Stats. Gotterup is my pick to win, so he gets a spot in the Cash Contest lineup.
JAKE KNAPP ($8,900): I thought about using Tony Finau based on his terrific course history but he ranks No. 147 in SG Off-the-Tee and No. 14 in SG Putting. I will use a golfer who is cheaper and has better form. Knapp ranks No. 5 in Ball-Striking, No. 4 in SG Putting and No. 4 overall in the Key Stats. Knapp has been playing really good over the last two months, so he should be a safe play for your Cash Contest lineup.
MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN ($8,500): Thorbjornsen missed the cut in the Twin Cities last year, but his form is much improved. Thorbjornsen has finished his last three tournaments in the top-21. He ranks No. 7 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 2 in SG Approach, No. 4 in Ball-Striking, No. 16 in SG Putting and No. 2 overall in the Key Stats. I like his chances of finishing up front and maybe winning Sunday.
RICO HOEY ($7,800): Hoey is also another golfer who will have a good chance to win Sunday “if” he can putt. Hoey ranks No. 2 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 5 in SG Approach, No. 1 in Ball-Striking and No. 141 in SG Putting. These greens are pretty easy and Hoey gained strokes with his putter last week at the Barracuda Championship. Hoey has a high floor and a high ceiling this week.
JHONATTAN VEGAS ($7,400): Some people call this tournament the 3M Open but I call it the Jhonattan Vegas Classic. He won the 3M Open last year and he finished 2nd in his previous start in 2021. Vegas brings some decent form to the course this week. He made his last five cuts on the PGA Tour and he ranks No. 18 in the Key Stats. Vegas should be a safe play for the Cash Contest lineup in Minnesota.
DOUG GHIM ($7,300): I like to fill my lineups with ball-strikers at the 3M Open and Ghim checks that box. He ranks No. 9 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 10 in SG Approach and No. 11 in Ball-Striking. Ghim is almost the same player as Rico Hoey. His weakness is his putter, but Ghim has been improving with the flat-stick over his last three tournaments. Ghim finished his last three starts in Minnesota in the top-30. He should do it again Sunday.
DRAFTKINGS TOURNAMENT CONTEST
SAM BURNS ($10,500): Burns would have been my pick to win if this tournament was played two months ago. Burns was red hot in April and May. He cooled down a bit in July, but Burns has still made 11 cuts in a row and he ranks No. 10 overall in the Key Stats. Burns finished 12th in his first trip to the Twin Cities last year. He should do better than that this week.
MAVERICK MCNEALY ($10,300): McNealy checks all of the boxes this week. He finished 3rd in the 3M Open last year and 16th in 2021, so he has the course history to play well. McNealy has made the cut in five consecutive tournaments, including a fifth-place finish at the Memorial Tournament. McNealy ranks No. 8 in the Key Stats, so the numbers like him too. McNealy has a good chance to win Sunday, so I will use him in my Tournament Contest lineup.
JACOB BRIDGEMAN ($7,500): Bridgeman will be one of my contrarian plays in the Tournament Contest lineup. He finished 19th at the 3M Open last year and Bridgeman has the form to do it again. He has made the cut in his last four tournaments and that includes a fifth-place finish at the John Deere Classic a few weeks ago. Bridgeman ranks No. 15 in the Key Stats, so his game is set up for a good tournament in Minnesota.
PATRICK FISHBURN ($7,500): Fishburn started off the PGA Tour season with three consecutive top-12 finishes and now he is ending the season on hot streak too. Fishburn finished 18th earlier this month at the John Deere Classic and 6th two weeks ago at the ISCO Championship. Fishburn also finished 6th last year in the 3M Open. He plays these easy courses very well. I doubt Fishburn will have much ownership, so I will use him in my Tournament Contest lineup this week.
KEVIN ROY ($7,300): Roy has the stats and the recent form to finish at the top of the leaderboard Sunday. Roy ranks No. 6 in SG Tee-to-Green, No. 7 in SG Approach, No. 7 in Ball-Striking and No. 6 overall in the key stats. Roy finished 18th at the RBC Canadian Open, 8th at the Rocket Classic, 3rd at the John Deere Classic and 35th last week at the Barracuda Championship. That is a pretty good summer. Roy should keep his hot streak going in the 3M Open this week.
JACKSON SUBER ($6,900): Suber popped when I did my research for this tournament and I doubt he will have much ownership. Suber has made the cut in five of his six tournaments this summer. That includes a 6th-place finish at the Rocket Classic, 18th-place finish at the RBC Canadian Open and a 7th-place finish last week at the Barracuda Championship. Suber also ranks 19th in the key stats. That is not bad for $6,900. Suber could be the golfer that wins us some cash this week.
Here are my lineups for Multi-Entry Tournament Contests: (Multi Entry Lineups)
FANDUEL CASH CONTEST
FANDUEL TOURNAMENT CONTEST
PGATOUR.COM FANTASY PICKS
* This is the eighth tournament in Segment 3. This is the toughest Segment to navigate. We had two majors (U.S. Open and the Open Championship), one Signature Event (Travelers Championship) and the PGA Playoffs coming up (St. Jude, BMW Championship and Tour Championship). That is a lot of stacked tournaments requiring our top golfers, so make your picks wisely this week.
FANTASY GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP ONE & DONE PICK: SAM BURNS (3M OPEN)
Players in Fantasy Golf Championship One & Done so far: Shane Lowry (40TH), Harry Hall (17TH), Chris Gotterup (21st), Cameron Young (46TH), Ben Griffin (14TH), Joaquin Niemann (MC), Taylor Pendrith (27th), Xander Schauffele (25th), Harris English (53rd), Bryon DeChambeau (2ND ), Justin Thomas (2nd), Byeong-Hun An (60th), Daniel Berger (3rd), Jon Rahm (14TH), Keegan Bradley (47TH), Aaron Rai (MC), Tommy Fleetwood (16TH), Scottie Scheffler (20th), Rory McIlroy (15th), Shane Lowry (11TH), Akshay Bhatia (9TH), Collin Morikawa (17th), Tom Kim (44th), Patrick Cantlay (33rd), Jason Day (32nd), Sungjae Im (MC), Corey Conners (MC)
SEASON-LONG ONE & DONE PICK: MAVERICK MCNEALY (3M OPEN)
– One & Done picks used so far this season: Viktor Hovland (63RD), Robert Macintyre (65TH), Denny McCarthy (11TH), Keegan Bradley (41ST), Xander Schauffele (61ST), Bryson DeChambeau (MC), Sam Burns (2nd), Sepp Straka (3rd), Aaron Rai (MC), Rory McIlroy (47TH), Justin Thomas (2nd), Sungjae Im (33rd), Thomas Detry (32ND), Patrick Cantlay (13th), Jon Rahm 14TH), Akshay Bhatia (MC), J.J. Spaun (MC), Corey Conners (8TH), Scottie Scheffler (20th), Ludvig Aberg (22nd), Daniel Berger (25TH), Patrick Rodgers (25TH), Taylor Pendrith (50th), Nick Taylor (25th), Collin Morikawa (17th), Jason Day (32nd), Russell Henley (10th), (Sungjae Im (3rd), Ben Griffin (15th), Nico Echavarria (29TH), Harris English (14TH), Beau Hossler (56TH), Tom Kim (MC), Keith Mitchell (MC)
BEST BETS FOR THE 3M OPEN
CHRIS GOTTERUP +1800
MAVERICK MCNEALY +2000
MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN +3500
JAKE KNAPP +4000
CAMERON CHAMP +5000
RICO HOEY +6000
Good Luck This Week!!!!
Follow me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR