Wild odds swing in 3M Open final round as Piercy opens door for Finau flourish

Moving Day at the Safeway Open gets underway Saturday in Napa, California. Here’s everything you need to follow the action from Round 3. Round 3 leaderboard Round 3 tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 5 p.m.-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 6 p.m.-9 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) Radio: Thursday-Friday, 3 p.m.-9 p.m. ET. Saturday-Sunday, 4 p.m.-9 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio). NOTABLE TEE TIMES (ALL TIMES LOCAL) Cameron Champ, Collin Morikawa 1:30 p.m. (No. 1 tee) Adam Long, Justin Thomas 1:40 p.m. (No. 1 tee) Nick Taylor, Dylan Frittelli 1:50 p.m. (No. 1 tee) Bryson DeChambeau, Nick Watney 2 p.m. (No. 1 tee) MUST READS DeChambeau shoots 64 to take Safeway Open lead Oda in contention with familiar caddie Win probabilities: Safeway Open Nicklaus planning renovation of Muirfield Village Mickelson aiming for Presidents Cup pick DJ plans Hero World Challenge return, will play Presidents Cup Top 10 rookies to watch What to expect during the fall schedule Sign-up and play Fantasy Golf CALL OF THE DAY

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What started with a Joaquin Niemann victory in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, 11 months ago morphed into a 2019-20 PGA TOUR season unlike any other. Tiger Woods' record-tying 82nd career victory provided a jolt of electricity in late October, but when the pandemic struck in March it led to a shocking blackout. RELATED: FedExCup standings | The First Look For three months the PGA TOUR went to the sidelines along with every other professional sports league and it was anyone's guess how, when and whether the 2019-20 season would be completed. Yet here we are, two months into the TOUR's return, on the precipice of the 14th edition of the FedExCup Playoffs. We've completed 33 tournaments in the abbreviated regular season, and now 125 players have qualified for THE NORTHERN TRUST at TPC Boston, week one of a frenzied three-week run. When you consider the lineup of courses in this year's Playoffs - Olympia Fields, 35 miles south of Chicago, will host next week's BMW Championship, and East Lake GC in Atlanta will again be the stage for the TOUR Championship in two weeks - TPC Boston is a proverbial young 'un. Having opened in 2002, TPC Boston cannot match East Lake (est. 1904) or Olympia Fields (1915) for rich history. But it doesn't have to shy away, either, because TPC Boston has hosted 16 tournaments, 12 of them FEC playoffs, and the flavor runs deep. Here are nine things about THE NORTHERN TRUST and TPC Boston: 1. The defending champ is either Reed or DeChambeau: Patrick Reed shot 67-69 on the weekend to hold off Abraham Ancer (68-69) by one at THE NORTHERN TRUST last August. Ah, but hold on. That tournament was held at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey. So does that make the defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, who won the last time a FedExCup Playoffs event was held at TPC Boston, back in 2018? Though he was lighter and not as long off the tee, DeChambeau was plenty explosive to capture the final Dell Technologies Championship. Seven back through two rounds, he made 13 birdies over the final 36 holes to finish 16 under and beat Justin Rose by two. It was DeChambeau's fourth career win, and his second straight Playoffs triumph because the week before he had captured - are you ready? - THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood C.C. in Paramus, New Jersey. (From 2007-2018 there were four playoff tournaments, but these days THE NORTHERN TRUST rotates between Boston and the New York area.) 2. They know how to put together a guest list: When the TOUR added TPC Boston to its schedule in 2003, the powers that be, including Jay Monahan (then the Championship Director, now PGA TOUR Commissioner) had a keen eye for talent. That first year they reached out to a couple of 23-year-olds - Adam Scott and Justin Rose. Scott had played in 33 PGA TOUR tournaments since turning 20 in 2000 but did not have his card here. Rose had played in just 15 PGA TOUR tournaments since 1999. After the first round (Rose shot 63, Scott 69) they hung around the TPC Boston short-game area for nearly two hours, just playing "chippy-putty." It was a wild and crazy Friday night. When Scott shot a second-round 62, then added 67-66, he earned his first TOUR win and a cool $900,000. Rose finished solo third and earned $340,000. It was the week they became PGA TOUR members. Two years later, sponsor invite Olin Browne, who at 46 was more than 25 years removed from days when he used to practice at The Country Club in Brookline and work at New Seabury CC on Cape Cod, came to TPC Boston as the world's 214th-ranked player. Then he stared down the likes of Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Fred Couples, closing with a 67 to capture the last of his three TOUR wins. These days the guest list at TPC Boston is merely 125 of the best players in the world. 3. The cream rises: While it's not a prerequisite to be rated in the upper echelon of the Official World Golf Ranking to get the biggest check here, it has been a common denominator with the 16 tournaments held at TPC Boston. The top-ranked player in the world has won here twice (Tiger Woods, 2006; Rory McIlroy, 2012), while on 11 occasions the winner was ranked inside the top 15. Only twice (No. 214 Olin Browne in 2005; No. 132 Charley Hoffman in 2010) has a winner at TPC Boston been ranked outside the top 100. 4. Hanse's team made it great: When John Mineck was putting together a project that would morph into one of the country's coolest golf courses, Boston Golf Club, he was asked who his designer going to be. "Gil Hanse," he said. "Haven't heard of him," a friend replied. Mineck nodded. "You will," he said. Boston Golf Club in Hingham, Massachusetts, was introduced in 2005 to critical acclaim and PGA TOUR officials took note. As Mineck had envisioned, offers came Hanse's way, among them the request to tweak and improve TPC Boston, which had opened in 2002. Hanse and Jim Wagner took on the assignment, got input from eight-time TOUR winner Brad Faxon, and when the FedExCup Playoffs were introduced in 2007, players were greeted by a more aesthetically pleasing TPC Boston. Hanse and Wagner worked wonders. They grew fescue, provided a rustic New England look to many of the holes, and added great flavor to the bunkers at the 7,261-yard, par 71. It was transformed into a picturesque course that required a stricter attention to course-management skills. The field average was slightly over par in the first four years of the tournament, but has been under par in each of the 12 years it has staged a FEC playoff since 2007. An advocate of layouts that provide players with different options but require them to think their way around, Hanse succeeded beautifully. 5. Spieth had a moment there: Jordan Spieth is going through a rough stretch under an intense microscope, so it's worth remembering the 9-under 62 he shot at TPC Boston on Sept. 2, 2013. His rookie season had already been quite special. Just five tournaments earlier, the 20-year-old Spieth had broken through for a victory at the John Deere Classic and earned his PGA TOUR card. Though he started the fourth round at TPC Boston in a tie for 29th, 11 strokes off the lead, Spieth loved the fact that he was paired with Phil Mickelson and that he was starting early, ahead of the thunderstorms. He played well, but a good day turned into an exceptional one when Spieth finished birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle for a 9-under 62. He was never going to win - he finished T-4, five behind the victor, Henrik Stenson - but now he had the attention of his distinguished peers. Mickelson, then 43 and only weeks removed from his stunning win at The Open Championship, signed his scorecard and promptly grabbed his phone to call U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Fred Couples. "Fred," said Mickelson, "pick the kid." Couples did. 6. Woods thrives: In his first five starts at TPC Boston (2003-2007), tournament host Woods had a victory, two ties for second, and a share of seventh. Though his foundation eventually shifted its affiliation to other tournaments, Woods has teed it up at TPC Boston 10 times with the sort of consistency that has defined his career. In 40 rounds, his scoring average is 68.30 and he's a whopping 108-under. 7. It produces great winners: The 16 tournaments at TPC Boston have produced 14 different winners (Vijay Singh and Rory McIlroy each won twice), nine of whom will be in attendance this week. Justin Thomas, who won here in 2017, is No. 1 in the FedExCup standings, Webb Simpson (2011) is third, Bryson DeChambeau (2018) is fourth, while McIlroy (2012, 2016) is eighth. The other past winners here who'll be in this week's field: No. 36 Adam Scott (2003), No. 49 Woods (2006), No. 67 Phil Mickelson (2007), No. 88 Rickie Fowler (2015), and No. 111 Charley Hoffman (2010). 8. You'd better go low: In 16 PGA TOUR tournaments at the par-71 TPC Boston, the average winning score has been 266.6 - or 17.4 under par. The low score is 262, by three different winners: Henrik Stenson in 2013, Charley Hoffman in 2010, and the second of Vijay Singh's wins in 2008. Only once has a winner failed to record at least one score of 65 or better - Rickie Fowler in 2015. (His 67-67-67-68 was stout, though.) Two winners, Scott and Hoffman, have recorded 62s, while on seven other occasions the winner has notched a 63. Winners have averaged 65.8 in the final round. 9. It's not technically Boston: For what it's worth, TPC Boston is closer to Providence, R.I. (20 miles south) than Boston (35 miles north). The course is tucked into the tiny town (pop.: 19,031) of Norton, right off the I-95 corridor. How small is Norton? Its first traffic light was installed in 1997. TPC Boston isn't the only landmark in Norton, however, because Wheaton College, a leading liberal arts establishment, is located here. Lesley Stahl of "60 Minutes" fame graduated from Wheaton, as did Chris Denorfia. A former major leaguer, Denorfia in 2015 made history - he became the first pinch-hitter to hit a home run in a 1-0 game while leading the Cubs to a win over the Royals. Match that, Lesley Stahl.

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Eyerolls. Laughter. Derision. You come to expect such things as a proud and parochial International Team fan ahead of the Presidents Cup. Captain Trevor Immelman and his players have heard it, as well. Apparently, they can’t win. BetMGM Sportsbook has the U.S. Team as a 6.5-point favorite in a 30-point contest, and if you listen to most pundits in the media center at Quail Hollow, it’s not enough. There’s even conjecture that the Americans could finish this off by Saturday. RELATED: Meet the teams Far from having his feelings hurt, Immelman and his players welcome the loose talk. “I let them read all the stuff that you guys are writing,” he said. “That’s where I start.” He knows the U.S. Team is 11-1-1 all-time, and unbeaten at home. At Liberty National in 2017 the 19-11 score probably flattered the Internationals. This year’s U.S. Team has 76 career PGA TOUR wins compared to 33 for the Internationals (22 of which come from just two players). The U.S. Team had 19 combined wins just last season (and Max Homa just won the new season opener) compared to five for the Internationals. What’s more, the average U.S. Team world ranking is 11.6 compared to a 48.9 for the Internationals. U.S. Captain Davis Love III has nine top-15 players, the most on any Presidents Cup team, while Immelman’s team has none. Eight Americans were ranked inside the top 15 of Strokes Gained: Total for the 2021-22 TOUR season compared to just one International. The list goes on and on and on. “It’s quite clear that we’re the underdogs,” Immelman said. “We generally have been in this competition over the years so it’s a tag that we’re used to. “There’s massive amounts of respect for the American team,” he added. “All of these guys compete week in and week out, and all of us know exactly how good they are.” And yet the matches are not played on paper, and underdogs do win. Nick O’Hern did beat Tiger Woods in his prime – twice. In 1983 a ragtag bunch of Australians took on the mighty U.S. in the Americas Cup yacht race in Newport, Rhode Island. The historic trophy had been in American hands for 132 years – the most dominant reign in sporting history – and yet the Australians won. The 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team beat the mighty Soviet Union. And in 1990 a 42-to-1 underdog, Buster Douglas, KO’d undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. All of which is to say Immelman and his men certainly don’t see losing as a foregone conclusion. They see this week as an epic opportunity to create history, as a win would rank up there with some of the biggest sporting achievements of all time. And that is a carrot worth chasing. “What excites us is the opportunity to see just how good we are,” Immelman said. The Internationals have eight first-timers in the team, another point some are using against them, but veterans Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama, and Immelman and his assistant captains, see it as a positive. They had seven newcomers in Melbourne and fed off their youthful exuberance. “It’s worked out quite well that we’ve got eight rookies here because they are just so excited,” Immelman said. “Everything is new and fresh, and they’re seeing everything for the first time. It’s kind of like Christmas morning when you can’t wait to open your presents up. That’s what I’m seeing from these kids walking into the team room for the first time.” Immelman has a blueprint to how his squad can prevail, but he’s keeping it to himself. One thing is for sure, though: He intends to unleash the rookies with a no-holds-barred mentality. The theory is to push the U.S. they’ll need to take risks and assert pressure early. It’s understood the players have been given the green light to throw caution to the wind. If they can have the U.S. players thinking about being part of losing the unlosable… they have a chance. “If you look at our record in this tournament and you look at our world rankings versus their world rankings, we have absolutely nothing to lose,” Immelman said. “We can go out there and play absolutely as free as we want, free as we can, and see if we can match up with the crazy good skills the Americans have.” It has the new guys counting down the minutes until go time. “There’s no reason to play safe or do anything like that,” said rookie Cam Davis of Australia. “We’re doing match play. We play aggressive. The golf course is set up to play aggressive. We’re really, really excited to get started. We all really want to win this thing. We all feel that all of us playing well, there’s more than a chance to get that done.” The International Team has momentum of a sort from 2019. Captain Ernie Els eradicated cliques and relied heavily on data to make pairings. He introduced a new shield logo and uniform to get behind. And it all worked for three days as Els’ team, with Immelman as an assistant, led heading to Singles for the first time since 2003 before the U.S. came back to win 16-14. “There was a clear line in the sand drawn for ’19 in our team,” said veteran Scott, who makes a record 10th appearance for the Internationals this week. “Things looked good there. So much changed. The direction of this team changed there, and that’s carried over. “Trevor has embraced that a lot and done an incredible job,” he continued. “We’re going to see that continue no matter what the result and I’m … optimistic that we have a shot this week. These guys are incredibly talented, and relatively unknown maybe compared to the stars of the United States, but they’ve now been given a platform to show off this week, and I hope they do.” Immelman has stats guru Duncan Carey dissecting the numbers, course setup and other factors to help provide him with optimal pairings and gameplan. Asked bluntly why he thinks his team can win, the captain didn’t hold back. “They’re all elite athletes,” he said, “and they got to elite level playing on the PGA TOUR. You don’t get here by accident, man, I can promise you. “You put a ton of work in,” he added. “You dedicate your life to it. You make sacrifice after sacrifice, investing time and money and blood, sweat, and tears to get to this level. You don’t just wake up one morning and get onto the PGA TOUR. These players are legit.” Legit they are. And they’re ready to show it.

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