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SPORTS Thursday 4 July 2019
PGA Tour returns to Minnesota as Koepka headlines 3M Open

By DAVE CAMPBELL field by Bryson DeCham-
AP Sports Writer beau (eighth), Tony Finau
BLAINE, Minn. (AP) — (17th), Jason Day (18th),
The last gathering of the Reed (25th), Mickelson
world’s greatest golfers in (28th) and Keegan Bradley
Minnesota led to a truly (29th).
seminal moment when the The purse is $6.4 million, with
U.S. team recaptured the the winner getting $1.152
Ryder Cup for the first time million and 500 FedEx Cup
in eight years in front of rau- points .
cous galleries at Hazeltine Koepka entered the week
National. trailing Matt Kuchar by 89
The big-hitting Brooks Ko- points for first place in the
epka coolly won three of FedEx Cup standings in this
his four matches. Phil Mick- newly condensed season
elson leaped into the air af- that concludes with the
ter a birdie putt on the final Tour Championship and
hole of his singles match. culmination of the FedEx
Patrick Reed followed his Cup playoffs in late August.
clutch shots with fist pumps, The 3M Open landed in
arm waves and a hand the sweet spot between
cupped to his ear to ca- the U.S. Open and the Brit-
jole a home crowd hardly ish Open, an additional at-
needing more encourage- traction for players eager
ment. to not only move up in the
“That atmosphere was so standings but to tackle a
cool,” Koepka said. new set of tee boxes and
Three years later, the stakes pin placements.
won’t be nearly as high, Nate Lashley, who won
the list of stars is a little the inaugural Rocket Mort-
shorter and the setting at Brooks Koepka hits off the 18th tee during the third round of the Travelers Championship golf gage Classic in Detroit last
the TPC Twin Cities will be tournament, Saturday, June 22, 2019, in Cromwell, Conn. weekend, is among the 3M
a bit more subdued. But Associated Press Open participants.
it is still a nice moment as people,” said Mickelson, tive director, adding: “We wind, it’s a game-chang- “It’s fun to play different
the inaugural 3M Open this who is one of seven players feel very comfortable that er.” golf courses,” Koepka said.
week marks the first regular ranked in the world’s top this golf course is going to Koepka, the top-ranked “You never know what you
PGA Tour stop in Minnesota 30 set to tee off in the first play hard and fast. It’s go- player in the world , has come across, what you
since 1969. round Thursday. ing to play long. If we get been joined in the 156-man might like.”q
“I have just a lot of fond Said Koepka: “I can’t be-
memories here, and it fit re- lieve how many people
ally well into the schedule,” are out on a Wednesday.”
Mickelson said after play- They will take on a course
ing in the pro-am Wednes- designed by Arnold Palmer
day. “I’m looking to this and built on a former sod
tournament to get a little farm in Blaine, about 20
bit of momentum heading miles north of Minneapolis,
into the summer stretch.” that’s heavy on water haz-
One of the first prominent ards and has been con-
players to commit to the siderably lengthened and
3M Open, Mickelson re- narrowed from the layout
called his first experience in used for the PGA Cham-
Minnesota as a 20-year-old pions Tour event it hosted
amateur at the U.S. Open from 2001-2018.
at Hazeltine in 1991. Under the renovation di-
That course by famed de- rection of Tom Lehman,
signer Robert Trent Jones who with fellow Minneso-
on rolling farmland in Chas- tan Tim Herron received an
ka, about 25 miles south- exemption to participate
west of downtown Minne- this week, the TPC Twin Cit-
apolis, also hosted the PGA ies will play as a par-71 at
Championship in 2002 and 7,468 yards. The goal was
2009 and then the Ryder to produce a classic risk-
Cup in 2016. Two week- reward setup with tight fair-
ends ago, the Women’s ways, thick rough and fast
PGA Championship was greens.
held there. The 3M Open, which has a
For a state with one of the seven-year contract with
shortest golfing seasons in the PGA Tour, will present
the country, Minnesota has four par-3 holes and three
long fostered a passionate par-5s.
community surrounding “We want birdies and train
the sport. wrecks,” said Hollis Cavner,
“They’re just really nice the tournament’s execu-