BLAINE, Minn. — The first day of the 2023 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities is (almost) in the books, and the leaderboard is deep.
There are 17 players within three shots of the lead, and all but four of those played in the morning wave Thursday in Minnesota. Birdies were available, and they came in numerous ways as players did their best to start fast and position themselves for a great finish in anticipation of the FedEx Cup Playoffs beginning in two weeks.
Nick Hardy bent his club while swinging around a tree, yet it resulted in a birdie. He’s at 6 under. Billy Horschel, needing a run to make the playoffs, finally got some putts to drop and is lurking. Defending champion Tony Finau got off to a blazing start.
The weather horn sounded at 6:59 p.m. local time (7:59 p.m. ET), ending play with a handful of groups left on the course. Round 1 will continue at 9 a.m. ET on Friday, and with Round 2 scheduled to begin on time.
Here’s some key things you need to know from the first day of the 2023 3M Open.
Lee Hodges in unfamiliar position
In his second PGA Tour season, Lee Hodges has held the first-round lead only once, when he shared it with Patrick Cantlay at the 2022 American Express.
A year-and-a-half later, he’s the lone wolf on top of the leaderboard at the 3M Open. Starting on the back nine, Hodges started with a trio of birdies and eventually added five more and no bogeys, signing for a 8-under 63 to lead the field after the opening 18 holes.
“I’ve been getting off to some poor starts, which I wish I knew why, I’d fix it if I knew,” Hodges said. “Today was great. To see that wedge shot go to an inch on the first hole and then make that 40-footer on the second hole, I was like, all right, here we go, might as well make a lot of birdies if we’re gonna make a couple.”
The 63 is the second-best round of Hodges’ career, behind only a 62 from the opening round of the American Express last year. That week was also the best finish of his career, a T-3. That doesn’t mean he’s satisfied.
“Just a great day today, I’ll take it for what it is and we’ll get out there tomorrow and try to do it again,” Hodges said.
This season, Hodges had made only one more cut (15) than he has missed (14). His best finish came at the Valero Texas Open with a T-6, but he had missed three of his past four cuts.
TPC Twin Cities is playing soft, meaning there have been no shortage of players attacking hole locations early on. Hodges said even as the course firms up, he has to stay aggressive.
“The whole golf course is a ball-striker’s course. And I think I hit it pretty nice, so I’ll take my chances around here,” he said.
In the first round, Hodges gained 3.837 strokes Tee to Green, third best in the field.
Blazing start for Finau
As the defending champion, it’s safe to say Tony Finau has a keen eye for TPC Twin Cities. But even he likely couldn’t have dreamt of the start he put together Thursday.
Finau was 5 under after his first four holes with three birdies and an eagle on the par-5 12th. He added another birdie on the par-4 15th to move to 6 under thru 6. On his seventh hole, the par-4 16th, he burned the edge of another birdie putt.
“I didn’t miss a shot for the first seven holes really,” Finau said. “That was a pretty hot start, it was a nice way to start my title defense this week and kind of calmed my nerves.”
All in all, Finau’s hot start quickly cooled down. He had a putt on the par-5 18th for a 29 on his opening nine, but it missed. He made bogeys on the second and seventh holes on the back, and on the par-4 seventh, it likely could’ve been a much higher score if not for a chip-in from the rough after his first tee shot sailed out of bounds.
Saving bogey in style 👏@TonyFinauGolf | @3MOpen pic.twitter.com/nT0UIF5DWq
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 27, 2023
“I missed some putts, missed some shots and I ended up finishing pretty nicely at the end,” Finau said. “It was a crazy day. As we know, this game can be that way. But I was happy just to post the score that I did for my title defense first round.”
After the second bogey, Finau bounced back with a birdie on the par-3 eighth to get in at 5 under, three shots behind Hodges in a tie for ninth.
“I just want to put myself in contention,” Finau said. “I find myself after today right near the top of the leaderboard and want to stay there throughout the week and give myself a chance to win this tournament again. It’s a place that I like, and it’s a golf course that fits my style.”
Sneds finding form after experimental surgery
Brandt Snedeker knew it was coming.
He didn’t play competitively for nine months, resulting from an experimental surgery on his sternum in December. He made the cut in his first start back, finishing T-41 at the Memorial Tournament. Since then, however, it has been a struggle for the nine-time Tour winner.
Four starts. Four missed cuts.
Barring a collapse Friday, Snedeker will make the weekend easily in Minnesota.
Snedeker found his mojo Thursday, shooting a bogey-free 7-under 64 that included a stretch of four straight birdies and six in eight holes. He’s tied for second with Hideki Matsuyama, Tyler Duncan and Kevin Streelman, one behind Hodges.
“I’ve been playing good at home and been making some dumb mistakes the first couple rounds, not putting rounds together, just kind of rust,” Snedeker said. “Hadn’t played competitively for it was like nine months I had off. I knew it was going to be a little learning curve coming back, and took a little longer than I wanted to, but finally able to put a round together today.
“It was coming and it was nice to see some putts go in and kind of have an easy stress-free round where I hit the ball really well, didn’t do anything poorly all day, so it was nice to have one of those rounds.”
Snedeker’s surgery involved taking part of his hip bone, cutting it in half and putting them on the upper and lower sternum. He said he hasn’t had any pain, and he’s finally getting his feet back under him.
Matsuyama played in the same group as Finau, beating the defending champ by two shots. After the round, Matsuyama didn’t meet with media as he dealt with some heat exhaustion, though he’s expected to be ready heading into the second round.
JT battles windy, hot conditions
One of the biggest stories coming into the 3M Open was Justin Thomas. Sitting 75th in the FedEx Cup standings, he needed a big week in Minnesota to make the playoffs.
After his opening round, he’s inside the cut line but has dropped three spots in the projected standings, meaning more work is left. Thomas shot 2-under 69 in the first round but said he’s looking forward to relaxing this evening.
“It just felt like a blow dryer was kind of getting blown on you,” Thomas said. “Especially with how I feel like I played today, just go home and just lay in a nice bath for a little bit, get some dinner, wake up early and do it again tomorrow.”
Thomas seemed flabbergasted after his round at the conditions. The temperatures were in the mid 90s with heat indexes above 100. Meanwhile, the wind was blowing 15-20 mph, and gusts were even more than that.
Thomas switched to a counter-balanced putter this week, trying to find his stride on the greens. Thomas missed birdie putts on his first two holes, both coming inside 10 feet and he had 32 putts in his round, managing three birdies.
Justin Thomas switched to a counter-balanced putter this week.
“I’ll putt with a shoe if it means I’ll make everything, as long as it’s a Scotty Cameron shoe.” pic.twitter.com/Zaxo2vKP7X
— Cameron Jourdan (@Cam_Jourdan) July 27, 2023
He was 115th on Thursday in Strokes Gained: Putting, losing more than a stroke with the flat stick. That included a three-putt on the par-5 18th green.
However, he was seventh in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, helping propel his round in the blustery conditions.
“I played really well,” Thomas said. “I think everybody that played this afternoon was pretty shocked with that wind. I think it was supposed to be somewhere in the kind of 8 to 10 range, but that was wild. It was not only blowing hard, but it was blowing in different directions.”
Alex Gaugert can't beat his boss
One of the best stories coming into the week at the 3M Open was Erik van Rooyen’s caddie, Alex Gaugert, Monday qualifying, leaving van Rooyen to find a new looper for the week.
Gaugert and van Rooyen were teammates at Minnesota from 2010-13, and Gaugert picked up his boss’ bag in 2019. This week, however, things were different. They’re paired in the same group for the first two rounds.
And Gaugert’s boss was getting the best of him. The group was on the 17th green when the weather horn sounded, and van Rooyen was 2 under for the day while Gaugert sat at 6 over.
