3M for Mediocre

The odds on none of the 4 players we had in position last week on Saturday and Sunday, finishing in the top 8 would have been massive, yet as we head to Minnesota for the 3M Open, we do so empty handed. It's disappointing, but that's the game, I'm happy with the way it panned out up until Sunday, and a boring finish coupled with our players in Harman, Henley, Hatton and Westwood not pushing on meant Sunday was ultimately disappointing. For me a great course was Americanised by low winds and moisture, and the brilliant and dour Scheffler won again with ease and Henley and Harman finishing 10th just made the cherry on the cake taste a little bitter.

So enough of what was, let's get some players in position in Blaine, TPC Twin Cities this week, and a low grade field, as always throws up some high grade opportunities to make some dollar, so let's have at it!

TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, MN, Par 71, 7431 Yards is the test, and a typical yank track, of water and sand, all sass and very little substance, this place reminds me of 2 or 3 of the tracks I played over there a couple of years ago. Looks the part, but it's basically Driver to a point on the fairway, iron to green, no imagination, just point to point ball striking. Virtually no wind, warm weather, some rain will make this place utterly defenceless, and although form is the main consideration I've narrowed down from a long list on putting stats on the large undulating Bentgrass greens this week.

Usually Jaeger would be my main selection here, but his recent withdrawal at the John Deere and recent awful form have forced my hand to promote course specialist and form player EMILIANO GRILLO. Grillo is a huge favourite of mine and has gone through a really strong spell on tour since he won Colonial for us at a huge price in 2023. His putting struggles almost cost him his career, but he has sharpened that up and remains a real threat in these secondary events. 24th, 10th, 2nd, MC, 3rd are his career stats at this course and he is nicely priced because of Burns and McNealy heading the market. I'm taking a slight drop in price for 10 places this week so we go 5pts e/w with Ladbrokes 10 places here at 35/1.

A debut on the blog this week for the huge hitting Swede JESPER SVENSSON. The 29yr old joined the PGA tour in 2025 off the back of a top 10 order of merit performance on the 2024 DP World tour standings. As we all know by now, I love a bomber, and this lad hits it miles. Like most European golfers, switching to these layouts, grass types and lifestyle changes take some time, and although he has made a lot of cuts, he hasn't broke into the top 100 in the Fedex quite yet. He finished 18th in Canada and fared very well in the Scottish and then a 16th place finish at the Open so he comes here full of confidence. It will play quite linksy this week (for an American course anyway) so I think confidence and layouts fit. He is 3rd on tour in driving distance, and with the greens being big, his weakness with his irons may not be a problem. He is 60/1 with Ladbrokes 10 places so we go 3pts e/w with them.

The hail-mary sits in the middle of our selections this week, and although KEVIN KISNER only has 1 bit of proper form in 3 years, it came at the Isco last time out, and his 8th placed finish there make him appealing. This guy lived at the top of leaderboards in the biggest of events for years. A low ball hitter, good driver, good iron player and great putter, age, confidence and commitment to being a professional golfer have led him to fall away, but that top 10 could just give him an Indian summer to his career. He has played here only once, and that was last season with a 33rd place finish, which was again one of his better performances in 2024 and at a whopping 750/1 8 places with Bet365 we are 1pt e/w.

2 more selections now and although his recent form falls short of what I expected from him CAM CHAMP can't be ignored here because of his record. The huge hitting Californian has a recent record here of 12th, 16th, WON, when I say his form is short of expected, that reads 15th, MC, 9th, 19th, 27th, 14th, MC so he is not far away. There are some 66s available at 5 or 6 places with some of the lesser known bookies, but again in a huge field I'm looking for more and we go 10 places full thief at 40s with Ladbrokes and we are 4pts e/w on him.

Last up it was a tricky selection and I should really have stuck with 4, but in a field that lacks the big names, it jumped out at me that TOM HOGE has very little on the form book in terms of playing these events. He plays signature events, majors and big courses, his record this season is ok (he is 37th in the Fedex rankings). Yes he doesn't hit it big, but he will come here, look around the locker room and realise he is one of the best players in the field. He has not played a non-major, non-signature singles event since the Valero 13 appearances ago, and despite a poor fortnight in the UK he is over-priced here. At 80/1 10 places with Ladbrokes he is our final 2pts e/w investment.

Thankfully we have some chances here this week, so I hope this dour event can light up our interests, have a great week, let's go again.

TEWT