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306. That’s how many times Cameron Tringale has teed it up on the PGA Tour without breaking through for a victory. Known in the infancy stage of his career as “Rickie Fowler’s roommate,” the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket has enjoyed a very strong 2020-2021 campaign.
Perhaps the near misses at the RSM Classic and the Valspar Championship earlier in the season will serve Tringale well on Sunday. The 33-year-old will have to hold off a crowded leaderboard as there are 20 players sitting within four-strokes of the lead.
Carding a bogey-free 5-under 66 on Saturday, Tringale was one of the few players to tee off later in the day to have a relatively stress-free round. Thanks to a kick-in eagle on the par-5 12th hole, Tringale was able to propel himself to the top of the leaderboard by day’s end.
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In what is the first solo 54-hole lead (he co-led after 54-holes with Andrew Landry at the 2019 John Deere Classic) of his career, Tringale will have plenty going against him, especially recent history. Courtesy of the broadcast, it was noted that only one player has converted the 54-hole lead into a victory over the last 12 events. That man was Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship. A man who also had plenty going against him that fateful Sunday on Kiawah Island.
Those closest to Tringale include Gary Woodland and Maverick McNealy. Sitting at 11-under, both would make for a fantastic story if they were to play spoiler. Woodland, who has battled injuries for quite some time, appears to finally look healthy and would be a very popular winner amongst his peers. McNealy, like Tringale, is looking for his first PGA Tour title. While he hasn’t logged the miles that Tringale has, McNealy has been close before, most notably at this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The odds makers at PointsBet Sportsbook were high on Tringale to begin the week, listing him pre-tournament at +2800. Now at +300, Tringale is the favorite to win the 3M Open and capture his long-awaited PGA Tour title.
Updated Odds to Win (Odds Via PointsBet):
+300: Cameron Tringale
+550: Gary Woodland
+650: Maverick McNealy
+1400: Cameron Champ, Charl Schwartzel, Jhonattan Vegas
+1600: Chez Reavie, Pat Perez
+2000: Ryan Armour
+2500: Roger Sloan
+2800: Jimmy Walker
+3300: Beau Hossler
+4000: Brian Stuard, Louis Oosthuizen
+5000: Bo Van Pelt, K.H. Lee
+8000: Matthew Wolff, Troy Merritt
Round 4 Plays (Odds Via PointsBet):
Ryan Armour (+2000 to win):
There are numerous question marks at the top of the leaderboard. The obvious are Tringale and McNealy as both are contending for their first career PGA Tour title. Then there’s Woodland, who looked shaky at times on Saturday, especially on the 18th hole, where he blew it so far right off-the-tee that it actually ended up fine – a position us weekend warriors are all too familiar with.
So that leads me down the leaderboard to the 10-unders and the player who impressed me the most on Saturday, believe it or not, was Armour. A gritty, underappreciated round of even-par 71 will have plenty of people looking right past him on the odds board.
It was a wildly impressive round considering the fact he posted –2.13 Strokes Gained: Approach for the day, ranking 64th out of 72 players for the day. I think he’ll take a ton of confidence from his third round. It easily could’ve gotten away from him at some points, yet he sits only two-strokes behind the lead.
Ranking first in SG: Off-the-Tee and sixth in SG: Putting for the tournament, Armour will need an iron performance similar to that from Thursday or Friday. If the irons come back to life, the rest of his game should hold steady and give him a chance to win down the stretch.
Tony Finau (+20000 to win):
Going along with the theme of question marks, it would be unjust if I didn’t add a small wager on Finau. At 6-under, he is a full touchdown and missed extra point away from the lead. Yet, this feels like a spot where he could finally pick up his second PGA Tour victory.
Being able to free wheel it around TPC Twin Cities without the added pressure of contending, Finau could accidently stumble into the mix. He’s played fantastic the last two days, posting rounds of 67-68, and will likely need something in the 8-under range tomorrow. Having played the par-5’s in only 3-under for the week, there is ample room for improvement.
However, the reason for optimism lies with the putter. Making the switch to a more conventional blade, Finau looks extremely comfortable on the greens. With performances of +1.23 SG: Putting on Friday and +2.10 SG: Putting today, that club could very well hold the keys to the kingdom.
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