Romo excited for Friday at Corales

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Minnesota is ready for just the second installment of the 3M Open which kicked off last season in fantastic fashion. The emergence of Matthew Wolff and his huge eagle to finish off victory will forever be folklore at TPC Twin Cities. RELATED: Featured Groups, tee times | Power Rankings | Expert Picks Now, with the FedExCup Playoffs fast approaching, the 3M Open takes on huge significance in this shortened season. Can Brooks Koepka make his mark? Is Tommy Fleetwood set to shock on his return? And can the Wolff bite again? Or will a new star step up and steal the limelight? THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER THE FLYOVER The 596-yard par-5 18th finishing hole at TPC Twin Cities is built for drama. Last season, Wolff needed a birdie to enter a playoff with Bryson DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa… so he made eagle and won outright instead. But while eagle is absolutely on the table, so too is a big number. Avoid the water on the right and find the fairway off the tee and it’s a green light to go for the green. But to do so you must fire right over a lake. Final round pin has water short and bunker long… you better be ready. LANDING ZONE The 502-yard par-4 ninth hole at TPC Twin Cities turned out to be quite the brute to finish the front side last season as the tournament made its TOUR debut. It played to a 4.279 average despite Dylan Frittelli’s incredible hole-out eagle in the third round. That made it the 25th hardest hole on TOUR. There were 116 bogeys, 26 double bogeys and five others on the hole that added just 51 birdies to Frittelli’s 195-yard hole out. Here’s a look at where tee shots landed last season. Hitting the fairway doesn’t guarantee anything… WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Joe Halvorson: “Dry conditions are likely to continue Thursday as surface high pressure begins to shift east while a warm front lifts into southwestern Minnesota. A complex of showers and thunderstorms is expected to be ongoing across northern Minnesota Friday morning, with precipitation chances remaining isolated around TPC Twin Cities as a warm front lifts through the area. As heat and humidity continues to build on Saturday, an upper-level disturbance is expected to push across the Northern Plains – likely setting off a complex of showers and thunderstorms. The precise timing and placement of Saturday’s shower and thunderstorm potential remains uncertain. A cold front is expected to bring another round of showers and thunderstorms at some point on Sunday, however, there remains large discrepancies in the forecast guidance for the timing of this boundary. Heat indices will be in the upper 90s to near 100F Friday through Sunday.” For the latest weather news from TPC Twin Cities, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I don’t need to keep up with anybody, I’m good. BY THE NUMBERS 9 – Pat Perez is one of eight players with a current streak of at least nine consecutive rounds par or better. Perez is 19-under par in his last nine PGA TOUR rounds. 11 – Number of PGA TOUR winners from Minnesota. They have accounted for 30 wins with Lee Janzen’s eight being the best of the group. Tom Lehman (five) and Tim Herron (4) could add to their numbers this week. 22.3 – The average age of the top-three finishers at the 2019 3M Open. It was the lowest of any PGA TOUR event in the last 37 years. 24 – Number of top-eight finishes in the last four seasons for Tony Finau, the most of any player without a PGA TOUR win in that span. 196 – Number of career eagles from Charles Howell III on the PGA TOUR. In the last 40 years, only five players have made over 200 eagles in their PGA TOUR careers. Howell made three eagles last year at the 2019 3M Open, marking his fourth career PGA TOUR event to make three eagles. 260 – Number of balls hit in the water during last season’s 3M Open. It was the third most of any course on the PGA TOUR. SCATTERSHOTS Five-time PGA TOUR winner and 1996 Open Championship winner Tom Lehman is in the field via a sponsor invite. A local from Austin, Minnesota who played collegiately at the University of Minnesota, Lehman plays on PGA TOUR Champions these days where he has 12 wins. He is the only player in history to be named Player of the Year on the PGA TOUR, the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR Champions. Lehman consulted on course renovations at TPC Twin Cities where he played the 3M Championship (PGA TOUR Champions) eight times with a T2 in 2011 his best result. FedExCup fight: With just five events and four weeks remaining before the start of the FedExCup Playoffs, a handful of stars need strong finishes to improve or secure their positions in the FedExCup standings. Brooks Koepka, who has finished among the top 10 in the standings the last three years and won the inaugural Wyndham Rewards Top 10 last year, is 154th in the FedExCup. England’s Tommy Fleetwood, in his first start since the Return to Golf, sits 81st in the FedExCup standings. Dustin Johnson – winner of the Travelers Championship in June – is 25th the FedExCup standings as he looks to extend his streak qualifying for the TOUR Championship to 12 years. Local imports: England’s Angus Flanagan, who recently was named a third-team All-American after his junior season at the University of Minnesota, makes his PGA TOUR debut. He recently shot a course-record 64 at Royal Golf Club to win the Minnesota State Open and he won the Big Ten individual title his sophomore year. South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen, who played his collegiate golf for the Gophers between 2009-13, is ranked No. 42 in the Official World Golf Ranking as a member of the European Tour. The Power of Community: The tournament’s 2020 charitable giving efforts will be directed largely toward local nonprofit organizations which are focused on supporting individuals impacted by COVID-19 and for social justice initiatives. Funds will be donated to: Urban Ventures, Lake Street Council, YWCA of St. Paul, YWCA of Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital, VEAP, Greater Twin Cities United Way, and Science Museum of Minnesota. Frontline workers recognition: At the driving range, there will be a wall with 156 Extreme Post-in Notes where the field will be encouraged to write thank you notes to frontline workers. Players can sign to whomever they like or keep their messages generic. Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson will sign one Post-it each for two specific healthcare workers from Masonic Children’s Hospital, one of the 3M Open’s primary beneficiaries. Course Changes: In preparation for the event, the first tee complex was relocated approximately 20 yards left, a walk bridge was installed in front of the second green, bunker modifications were completed on holes 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 13, 14, 16, and 18, and fairways were narrowed on hole 6, 7, 10, 14, and 18.

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Reigning FedExCup champion Justin Thomas rings in the restart as defending champ at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, topping a 34-man field comprised solely of tournament winners from 2017. Dustin Johnson, whose four PGA TOUR wins in 2017 were second only to Thomas, and Jordan Spieth also headline the roster to begin the TOUR’s Hawaiian fortnight. In all, Kapalua Resort welcomes seven of the top eight in the year’s final world rankings. FIELD NOTES: Xander Schauffele, whose TOUR Championship triumph nailed down Rookie of the Year honors, and Jon Rahm top a group of 14 pros making their debut at Kapalua. That list also includes all four first-time winners from the fall schedule. … Kyle Stanley (The National) returns for the first time since 2013; D.A. Points (Puerto Rico) last played in 2014. … Thomas, Spieth (2016) and Johnson (2013) are the only former Kapalua champions in the field. … The 34-man roster matches the most in the past 15 years to come to the winners-only tournament. The 2007, ’11 and ’15 editions also featured 34 players. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 points. STORYLINES: Thomas, who last year joined Ernie Els (2003) as the only men to sweep the Hawaii double, seeks an unprecedented third straight victory in the islands. For what it’s worth, Els won three in a span of four starts, repeating as the Sony Open champion in 2004. … Thomas would become the TOC’s first back-to-back winner since Geoff Ogilvy in 2009-10. … Rickie Fowler hopes a hot 2017 finish can extend into the new year. Fowler captured the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, three weeks after almost repeating at the OHL Classic. … The Tournament of Champions actually dates back to 1953, with Gene Littler winning three of the first five editions. Jack Nicklaus won it four times. COURSE: Plantation Course at Kapalua, 7,452 yards, par 73. Located at the foot of the West Maui mountains, the Plantation course opened in 1991 as one of the first projects by the team of Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. The course offers some of the most breathtaking views found all season, with gentle trade winds allowing the winner to approach 20-under par over four days. Sometimes, though, the course’s exposure to the elements can flirt with the extreme, evidenced by a wind-whipped 2013 edition that required a Tuesday finish. 72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Ernie Els (2003). 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, K.J. Choi (3rd round, 2003), Graeme McDowell (4th round, 2011), Jason Day (4th round, 2015), Chris Kirk (4th round, 2015). LAST YEAR: What first shaped up as a back-nine cruise for Thomas required a little more work than expected, eventually holding off Hideki Matsuyama’s late charge to notch his first TOUR victory on U.S. soil. Thomas held a five-shot advantage with five holes to play, only to see the margin quickly close to one when Matsuyama holed a flop shot for eagle at Kapalua’s 14th and Thomas double bogeyed No.15. After Matsuyama missed a birdie chance at No.16 that would have tied it, Thomas took matters back into his own hands. Facing 214 yards to the 17th pin, he striped an 8-iron that came to rest 3 feet from the flagstick for birdie and a two-shot edge. It was Thomas’ third PGA TOUR win, with the previous two having taken place in Malaysia. HOW TO FOLLOW TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 6-10 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 3-7 p.m. (GC). Sunday, 6-10 p.m. (GC). PGA TOUR LIVE: PGA TOUR LIVE returns Jan. 19 at the CareerBuilder Challenge RADIO: Thursday-Friday, 4-10 p.m. Saturday, 2-7 p.m. Sunday, 5-10 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com).

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