Scott Piercy stood on the eighth hole Sunday with a five-shot lead and one hand in the 3M Open trophy. However, just as a comfort level seemed to emerge, the 43-year-old felt a shock to his system and took four bogeys and an ugly triple-bogey over the next seven holes. What his loss was Tony Finau’s gain, as the 32-year-old was the man who seized the opportunity and ultimately claimed victory at the 2022 3M Open.
Starting the day five shots ahead of Piercy, Finau ran his business on the front nine and delivered 1 under par. Adding a birdie on the 11th, the now three-time PGA Tour winner was unable to convert his birdie effort on the par-5 12 to move within one of the lead; instead, he fell three shots behind Piercy when his competitor made a birdie of her own.
However, Finau kept his head down and kept going and added birdies at numbers 14-16. With Piercy struggling behind him, Finau not only catapulted to the top of the leaderboard, but also with a lead that had grown to four shots in the blink of an eye.
Lucky to have a break on the par 3 17 when his tee shot remained dry after bouncing off a grandstand, Finau was able to get up and down for par. It turned out to be a pivotal moment, as he found water on the tee on the last 18 and bogeyed to enter the tournament at 17 under.
This effort secured his third PGA Tour title and second in less than a year, as his last trip to the winner’s circle came last season at The Northern Trust, the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
In what started out as a troubled 2022, Finau has been able to turn his fortunes around since early May. Finau started as runner-up at the Mexican Open, added a top-five finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge and battled Rory McIlroy down the stretch at the RBC Canadian Open, where he also finished second.
While for most of the week it felt like the field was playing for a podium spot due to Piercy’s dominance, this just goes to show the importance of consistently playing his position. Few have been better at this than Finau over the years, who has 29 top-five finishes since 2017.
For Finau, the wins have yet to stack up, but golf is often a racing game. Patrick Cantlay in last year’s playoffs; Viktor Hovland this past winter; Scottie Scheffler on spring; and Xander Schauffele in the summer months. Maybe, just maybe, this postseason belongs to Tony Finau. Grade: A+
Here are the ratings of the rest of the notables in the 3M Open 2022 standings
T2. Sungjae Im (-14): After experiencing a disappointing trip to Scotland, it’s encouraging to see that I’m rediscovering something of form. The South Korean withdrew before the Travelers Championship and missed the cut at the US Open. The epitome of consistency, he nailed it at TPC Twin Cities and combined his consistent ball strike with a competent putt. Im’s game around the green was delayed, but after playing three weeks straight, even the golf version of Iron Man may have dealt with some form of fatigue. Grade: B+
T4. Scott Piercy (-13): If you had told Piercy at the beginning of the week that he would get a top-five finish, he would have taken it and run. While the full context of the situation paints a disappointing picture, he will be able to draw some positives despite blowing a five-shot lead with just 10 holes to play. Piercy began the week ranked 138th in career all season and propelled himself to 112th with his game at Minnesota. A win would have put Piercy inside the top 50, but with only two weeks left in the regular season, seeing his name inside the top 125 at least provides some sense of job security.. Grade A-
T17. Cameron Champion (-7): Taking away his front nine on Thursday, which he played in 6 overs, Champ put together a solid defensive effort. Playing his last 63 holes at 13 under par, the three-time PGA Tour winner ended a streak that included five consecutive missed cuts. Prior to this, Champ had finished T10 at the Masters and T6 at the Mexican Open. With a similar finish at TPC Twin Cities, perhaps the 27-year-old will build on this momentum to make it to the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Grade B
T38. Ricky Fowler (-3): The five-time PGA Tour winner was looking for a spark to kick off the end of his season, but he couldn’t find it in Minnesota. Finishing in the middle of the pack, Fowler continued his drought as he remained without a top-20 finish in 2022. Now even further outside the top 125 in the FedEx Cup points race, he will head to the Rocket Mortgage Classic. in the next week. him needing to find lightning in a bottle so he can make it to the postseason. The good news is that Fowler ranked 24th in strokes gained from tee to green thanks to his strong efforts off the tee and around the green. The bad news is that he is a shadow of his former self and only has one year of status left due to his win at the 2015 Players Championship. Grade: D