The 3M Open will offer golfers one of the last two opportunities to secure their PGA Tour cards for next season, moving on to the FedEx Cup playoffs and the very important top 100. The leaderboard top after the first round features Adam Svenson players who want to do both after filming the 60s on a cinch on Thursday.
Svensson placed 170th in the FedEx Cup standings, and entered the top 100, looking at the playoff spots and effectively needed a victory. The victory brought Svenson to 69th in the rankings, putting him among the number he needed for his first playoff event in one tournament.
Svensson will need to create three more powerful rounds, but his incredible opening efforts have assigned Thorbjørn Olesen and Sam Stevens two shots of cushioning. Svenson went the opposite path on the 18th. He was nine years old when he arrived.
No one was perfectly matched with Svenson’s birdie and the Eagles’ onslaught, but Minnesota’s scoring conditions were ideal and the field was exploited. The leaderboards in the top 10 backends have some serious crowds, including some of the biggest names of the field trying to lock their postseason positions.
This month, Chris Gottap, the second hottest golfer on Earth, continued his heater in opening round 63. Scotland’s Open Championship and third-place finisher in the Open Championship took a break this week, but he trekked to Minnesota and maintained a good Vives.
Ricky Fowler opened with a 6-under 65 and he is hiding in the top 10. If he can stay in that range until the weekend, Fowler will need to lock down one of these top 70 spots after starting the week on the 63rd. But Fowler is thinking about the top 50. Because those who took part in the BMW Championship in their second playoff event were locked into all eight signature events in 2026.
Max Homa began his 102nd week in the rankings and shot a solid 5-under 66 to keep his hopes alive. He needs to move higher than the T10 to truly improve his position and get a chance at tee time in Memphis in two weeks. Still, Homa is happy with the start of the tournament as players try hard to find his game and tries to back it up on another strong day on Friday.
leader
1. Adam Svensson (-11): Even in great conditions, Svenson’s 60 was spectacular. At one point he made seven birdies on nine holes stretches from fourth to 12th, with 59 watches being taken to the middle par row of the back nine, but he still closed tightly on a birdie palg finish to take the lead alone. He was incredible around the green on Thursday, leading the field where he scored nearly five strokes for everyone else. Svensson’s challenge is to keep that putter hot for another three days, but for the guy whose winning this week was a playoff hope, he couldn’t seek a better start.
Candidate
T2. Sam Stevens, Solbjorn Olesen (-9)
T4. Chad Lammy, Matty Schmidt, Chris Gottap (-8)
T7. Brendan Valdes, Jake Knapp (-7)
T9. Ricky Fowler, Kurt Kitayama, Emiliano Grillo, Ricky Castillo, Matt Wallace, Patrick Fishburne (-6)
T15. Max Homa, Luke Clanton, Akshay Battia, and 16 others (-5)
As you’ll often see on the PGA Tour, there are a lot of shifts on the leaderboard as there are some low scores on Fridays and no one can step in from the gas. Svenson could have escaped if he could find another round in the low rounds of the ’60s, but following up 60 rounds is always a difficult task, and the field knows that they are one great round themselves from stabbing them to the top of the leaderboard.
This week’s pressure is not only about winning and competing in PGA Tour events, but also for the playoffs and next season. The majority of the field had to solidify their positions as the top 100 players on cards next season this week, and solidify their positions as the top 70 players in this year’s playoffs, or as the top 50 players to participate in a highly lucrative signature event in 2026.
That dynamic should make this weekend even more appealing.
2025 3M Open Update Odds, Picks
Odds by DraftKings
- Chris Gottap (11/2)
- Sam Stevens (17/2)
- Adam Svenson (10-1)
- Thorbjørn Olesen (10-1)
- Jake Nap (12-1)
- Mattischmidt (14-1)
- Kurt Kitayama (20-1)
- Ricky Fowler (22-1)
- Emiliano Grillo (22-1)
With this early exception, who’s tournament still? Oddsmakers have the right respect for getterup, but the question is whether they will run out of gas on the weekends that deal with the mental stress of conflict. I can’t help but believe Jake Knapp will win another of these sooner. He can really go low and that will probably be a requirement this weekend. Plus, 35-1 Luke Clanton is another guy who can stack birdies and is more comfortable as a professional.
