BLAINE, Minn. — After Thursday’s first round of the 3M Open, Ben Corless eagled the final hole for a 9-under 62, building a two-stroke lead and a three-shot lead over top-ranked Scottie Scheffler.
Emiliano Grillo, Jackson Koibun and Gary Woodland started with 64 points, while Scheffler led the group with 65 points in his first appearance.
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Scheffler, who finished fourth at the British Open on Sunday, was 1 under through eight holes and birdied five of the next eight holes.
“I didn’t hit a lot of fairways early on, but I managed to hang in there and get out of some trouble areas without making bogeys. That was important to keep the momentum going,” he said. “After I started hitting the fairways and seeing what was going on a little bit, I was able to start making birdies.”
Coles’ second shot from the par-5 finishing hole with 241 yards left was 4 feet from the cup. The short putt capped off the best round of his career for the 36-year-old, who has split his season between the PGA Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour.
He made a birdie on each of the nine holes starting with the 6th hole, and added a birdie on the 15th hole to move into a tie for the lead at 7 under.
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“I was in control all day,” he said.
Three weeks ago, Coles was on the verge of winning his first career at the John Deere Classic, but a double bogey on the final hole cost him third place.
“Of course you would like the result to be different, but you have to keep the pedal to the metal and see where it goes,” he said.
In a bogey-free round at the traditionally low-scoring TPC Twin Cities, Koibun birdied four holes on the front nine and three holes on the back. The average winning score for this tournament over the past seven years has been 19 under.
“Play smart, play to score. Just execute at the right times and be aggressive when you can,” he said. “I felt like we took advantage of that today.”
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It was Koibun’s 13th tour start, but only third place as a professional, and the 64 was Koibun’s lowest score in 43 rounds of his career. The 21-year-old turned professional in June after a dominant performance at Auburn that included a school-record 11 wins.
Grillo birdied five of the first seven holes and added three straight birdies starting at No. 12, but played the final three holes 1 over.
“Any day I beat Scotty Scheffler is a good day, so I’ll take it,” he said.
Defending champion Kurt Kitayama shot a 68.
