One month from the Masters: Will we see Tiger or Phil in Augusta, who’s in, who has work to do and more

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BLAINE, Minn. – Greyson Sigg expects to compete in the FedExCup Playoffs. It goes back to the level of self-belief that led him to a sparkling 2020-21 season on the Korn Ferry Tour, recording two wins among 19 top-25 finishes en route to Rookie of the Year honors. He also knows that Playoffs spots are not given, but earned, and that his attitude had perhaps limited his potential across his rookie PGA TOUR season. He arrived at this week’s 3M Open at No. 126 on the FedExCup standings, one of the proverbial bubble boys into the final three events of the regular season. Sigg’s play this week displays a desire to play his way off the bubble. He carded a third-round, 7-under 64 at TPC Twin Cities – across a mid-round weather delay of 6 hours, 38 minutes – to move into a tie for sixth into Sunday in Minnesota. That finish would project him to No. 105 in the FedExCup standings, essentially securing a Playoffs berth. “Just trying to not get down on yourself,” said Sigg of the challenges of his rookie TOUR season, which included a string of five consecutive missed cuts in May and June. “It’s a frustrating game. It’s a hard game … working on my attitude a little bit, and I feel like that has improved a lot this week as well.” The 3M Open marks the third-to-last event of the PGA TOUR regular season, with the top-125 players on the FedExCup upon the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship to earn Playoffs berths and fully exempt status on TOUR in 2022-23. Several players in the mix into Sunday at TPC Twin Cities are aiming to play their way into the Playoffs, including 54-hole leader Scott Piercy. The four-time TOUR winner entered the week at No. 138 in the FedExCup standings, having recorded five top-25s to this point in the season but still searching for his first top-10. Things look to be coming together at the right time for Piercy, who entered Saturday with a three-shot lead and carded 5-under 66 to extend that margin to four. “It means a lot,” said Piercy of being in this position. “I’ve had my struggles, and to prove and show that I can still do it is a big confidence boost.” Some chasers are looking to make the Playoffs for the first time, like England’s Callum Tarren. After earning his first TOUR card through the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Finals, less than a month after the birth of his first child, Tarren didn’t make his first cut until The Honda Classic in February. The 31-year-old has built his confidence through results. He has made 10 cuts in his last 15 starts, including a pair of top-six finishes, and played in Saturday’s final threesome at TPC Twin Cities. He stands T13 into the final round, having entered the week at No. 144 on the FedExCup and projected to move to No. 134. “It would be incredible,” said Tarren of the prospect of making the Playoffs. “That was one of my goals from the start of the season, and after eight events, missing eight cuts in a row didn’t look very promising. I always knew my game’s good enough. “I don’t look at (the numbers) on the golf course, because in one hole you can go from being inside the number to being outside the number. I think a good, solid week this week will take care of things.” Others like Doug Ghim are striving for a repeat Playoffs appearance. The University of Texas alum earned his first TOUR card in dramatic fashion via the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Finals, draining a crucial 8-foot par on the 72nd hole followed by a Tiger-esque fist pump. Ghim, 26, missed the Playoffs in his rookie TOUR season at No. 184 on the FedExCup, but eligibility was extended for another season due to COVID-19. He took advantage with a No. 83 finish on last year’s FedExCup, and he began this week at No. 117 on the standings. Ghim carded a third-round 65 at TPC Twin Cities to move into a tie for third, which projects him to No. 84 on the FedExCup. “It’s been a frustrating one a lot, because I feel like a lot of the improvements I made as a player haven’t really been reflected obviously in the FedExCup and statistically and whatnot,” said Ghim of his season so far. “But I know where my game is trending and I’ve been knocking on the door and just maybe one bad round or a couple of bad holes away and just been trying to be really patient. “It’s a pretty good time of year to start finding the groove and starting to put my name in the hat coming down the stretch. I know that this is what I was capable of all year, but it’s fun to finally be in stride at this time of year.” Every shot counts in the race to the FedExCup. This time of year, the scarcity of opportunity just magnifies that knowledge. “It would mean a lot,” said Sigg of making the Playoffs. “I don’t really expect anything else. I expect a lot of myself, and I look forward to doing that in the next couple of weeks.”

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LA QUINTA, Calif. — Patrick Cantlay shot a 10-under 62 in perfect weather and turf conditions Thursday at La Quinta Country Club for a share of the first-round lead with rookie Lee Hodges in The American Express. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Get to know Sahith Theegala in 10 stories Cantlay played the first seven holes in 7 under, making an eagle on the par-5 sixth and five birdies. The FedExCup champion added birdies on Nos. 11-13, two of them par 5s, and closed with five straight pars. “I got off to a roll at the start and kind of made a bunch of putts and then I kind of lagged on the way coming in,” Cantlay said. “But I was happy with everything. I thought I did everything well and it’s a golf course I really like. It’s in perfect shape and so, if you get the ball rolling on line, it should go in.” Cantlay won the BMW Championship and TOUR Championship in his final two starts last year and opened this year with a fourth-place finish two weeks ago in Hawaii at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Last year in the desert, the 29-year-old former UCLA player closed with a Stadium Course-record 61 to finish a shot behind winner Si Woo Kim. “I grew up a couple hours away, so there are a bunch of friendly faces in the crowd and so it’s really fun,” Cantlay said. “It’s the best part of what I do is when you get on a roll like that and you’re making a bunch of birdies.” Hodges made a memorable debut in the event. The former Alabama star played the back nine at La Quinta in 7-under 29, eagling the par-5 fifth and making five birdies. “It’s one of my favorite golf courses I’ve ever played, to be honest,” Hodges said. “I played it I guess three times now and it’s spectacular. It’s like hitting off of mats half the time. It’s just in perfect shape. You get rewarded for good shots out here, which I like that. Good golf gets rewarded.” Cameron Young and K.H. Lee were tied for third at 64. Young played at La Quinta, and Lee on the Stadium Course. Brandt Snedeker was at 65 with Joseph Bramlett, Greyson Sigg, Sam Ryder, Danny Lee, Tom Hoge, Wyndham Clark and Seamus Power. Snedeker and Clark played at La Quinta, Bramlett and Ryder at the Stadium Course, and Lee, Hoge, Power and Sigg at the Nicklaus Tournament Course. The players who opened at La Quinta will play the Nicklaus Tournament Course on Friday and the adjacent Stadium Course on the weekend, with strong wind expected Saturday. Top-ranked Jon Rahm and Graeme McDowell were in the group at 66, both playing at La Quinta. “I liked the score and the weather,” Rahm said. “It’s always a very enjoyable walk out here. La Quinta Country Club it’s a great golf course. It’s always in pristine shape, one of the best we play all year shape-wise.” McDowell played the event only once before, missing the cut in 2003. “I think my caddie and I are both looking at each other wondering why it’s taken us so long to get here,” McDowell said. “Obviously, the weather is perfect and these golf courses are so well presented.” Harry Higgs had a hole-in-one on the par-3 15th at La Quinta in a 66. He used a 5-iron on the 199-yard hole. Tournament host Phil Mickelson was tied for last in the 156-player field after a 78 at La Quinta. He made a quintuple-bogey 9 on the par-4 eighth after hitting two drives out of bounds right.

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