The App is Back! Don’t forget to download the NBC Sports EDGE app to receive real-time player news, mobile alerts and track your favorite players. Plus, now you can check out articles and player cards. Get it here!
It was a tale of two waves in the second round of the 3M Open. While at first glance it appeared those who were on the course late Thursday evening got the short end of the stick, by the end of Friday that would not be the case. As winds laid down in the morning hours to begin Round 2, those same players took advantage of ideal scoring conditions.
Bo Hoag, Chez Reavie, Jhonattan Vegas, and Roger Sloan, all playing out of the PM-AM split, sat atop the leaderboard for most of the day. Co-leading after the completion of the first-round earlier in the day, Vegas and Sloan kept the foot on the gas pedal. Both players were able to reach double-digits under-par, but carded sixes on their final holes of the day to end at 9-under at the halfway mark.
[[ad:athena]]
Later in the day, Adam Hadwin joined in on the fun and did them one better. Getting to 10-under with a birdie on the par-5 6th hole, Hadwin played his final three holes in even-par to secure the 36-hole lead. A two-putt par from over 70 feet on the difficult 9th allowed Hadwin to card a bogey-free, 5-under 66. With only one bogey through his first two rounds, the Canadian has relied on solid iron play and his trusty putter, ranking second in Strokes Gained: Approach and seventh in SG: Putting.
Hadwin won’t be taking the lead into the weekend by himself as Ryan Armour was able to grab a share just a bit later in the day. After turning in 1-under, Armour carded four birdies in a row to get to 9-under for the tournament. Adding another birdie on the par-5 18th, Armour got to the 10-under number. Unlike Hadwin, Armour has utilized a more balanced approach. Without ranking inside the top-10 in any statistical category, Armour sits sixth in SG: Tee-to-Green and right next to Hadwin atop the leaderboard.
Despite the crowded leaderboard, a few of the big names will not be around to participate in the weekend activities. World No. 2, Dustin Johnson lowlights those who narrowly missed the cut. After carding a round of 1-under on Thursday, Johnson made three birdies in the first eight holes of his second round to get to 4-under for the tournament.
With the cut line sitting at 2-under, Johnson made bogey on three of his next five holes to drop to 1-under. He wasn’t able to make another birdie coming home, thus missing his first cut since the PGA Championship. We’ll see Johnson next at the WGC FedEx St. Jude’s Invitational where his brother, A.J., should be back on the bag.
The oddsmakers at PointsBet Sportsbook are keen to the fact that this tournament is still ripe for the picking. At +800, Hadwin is co-favorite alongside Reavie and Vegas, with plenty of players in the chasing pack as 11 players are currently listed at +2000 or lower.
Updated Odds to Win (Odds Via PointsBet):
+800: Adam Hadwin, Chez Reavie, Jhonattan Vegas
+1100: Bo Hoag
+1200: Adam Schenk, Gary Woodland
+1400: Cameron Tringale, Ryan Armour
+1600: Louis Oosthuizen
+2000: Charl Schwartzel, Roger Sloan
+2200: Keegan Bradley
+2500: Brian Stuard
+2800: K.H. Lee
+3000: J.T. Poston
+3300: Troy Merritt
+5000: Brice Garnett, Mito Pereria
Round 3 Targets:
Tracking Dahmen religiously for some unknown reason, the recent PGA Tour winner had about nine legitimate birdie opportunities in his second round. Dahmen was only able convert three of them as he sits at 2-under after 36 holes.
When looking through his strokes gained data, my initial thoughts were proven correct. Ranking inside the top-10 in SG: Tee-to-Green on Friday, and for the tournament as a whole, Dahmen’s putter left a lot to be desired. Posting –4.11 SG: Putting, and ranking outside the top-140 in the category through two days, I am hoping that club will find some form over the weekend.
Sitting eight-strokes behind Armour and Hadwin, it would be a tall order to chase down the lead, especially with how many players stand in his way. However, Dahmen should be a nice play in a head-to-head or three-ball matchup as players will go off in threesomes tomorrow due to forecasted inclement weather.
Editor’s Note: Get an edge with our premium DFS and Betting Golf Tools that are packed with a DFS Optimizer, DFS Projections, Salary Tracker, Edge Driver, Prop Projections, Futures and much more. Gain access to both tools in our EDGE+Max tier and don’t forget to use promo code SAVE10 to get 10% off. Click here to learn more!
Having been in the featured group the first two days, we were able to get a good glance at Wolff’s state of play. All in all, it has looked solid outside of a few crooked tee shots here and there. I’d expect the 2019 champion to clean that up heading into the weekend as the rest of his game looks up to the challenge of capturing his second 3M Open.
Tee-to-green, he was great in the first round, but struggled with the flat stick. In Round 2, the opposite emerged as Wolff was solid on the greens, but regressed a bit tee-to-green. I am hoping he can piece it all together tomorrow as Wolff has more than enough firepower to shoot up the leaderboard.
In 2019, Wolff’s third round was instrumental in his eventual victory. Carding a 9-under 62, Wolff would go onto win by a single stroke over Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau. Sitting only six-strokes behind the leaders, he is hardly out of the tournament. Having a pre-tournament ticket, myself, I am not confident enough to reinvest at +6600, but he should make for a solid matchup option on Saturday.
PointsBet is our Official Sports Betting Partner, and we may receive compensation if you place a bet on PointsBet for the first time after clicking our links.
