Wolff wins 3M Open in fourth career start

By
Mo Yoshimoto,

By
Mo Yoshimoto

Published July 8, 2019 08:41 AM

3M Open

TPC Twin Cities

Blaine, MN

Six weeks ago, Matthew Wolff, the then-sophomore at Oklahoma State, won the 2019 NCAA Div. I individual national title by five shots, increasing his (already) school-record five victories in a season to six.

That was May 27^th.

Four weeks later, he made his pro debut at the Travelers and finished T80/MDF (70-68-74), and then missed the cut by one the following week at the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic (75-68).

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That was last week.

To recap: After two events, the 20-year-old was a cumulative 1-over-par in five rounds among the paid ranks with $12,888 in earnings, and had yet to complete 72 holes.

One week later, and after a reported caddie change, he tore up TPC Twin Cities to the tune of 21-under 263, including a week-tying-low 62 on Saturday, to win his first PGA TOUR title in his fourth career event, third as a pro.

Playing out of the final twosome, the World No. 1659, a pre-tourney 125/1 outright, capped off a 6-under-par 34-31=65 on Sunday with an improbable eagle-3 at the 72^nd hole, rolling in a 26-footer from off the green with the flat stick, to clip runners-up Bryson DeChambeau (66) and playing competitor Collin Morikawa (66) by one.

DeChambeau, in the group ahead, had just made eagle from 6’5” to post the clubhouse lead, while 2019 UC-Berkeley grad Morikawa, in his sixth career start (fourth pro), just missed his eagle bid from 22’3” to force extra time.

Wolff and Morikawa, both non-members and sponsor invites, along with five-time TOUR winner and 2015 NCAA individual champ DeChambeau, are all native Californians and each were overnight co-leaders, while DeChambeau was also the 36-hole leader by two.

This was the 37^th of 46 events this season and other than Tiger Woods’ thrilling Masters victory back in April – for his first major win in nearly 11 years – Wolff’s takedown of the inaugural 3M Open is a very close second in terms of drama, particularly on the back nine.

Wolff, the 2019 Fred Haskins and Jack Nicklaus award winner, came home in 5-under 31, as did DeChambeau, while Morikawa came home in 30, each blemish-free on the home half.

He is the first player since Woods in 1996 to win the NCAA individual title and a PGA TOUR event in the same year. Woods won the 1996 Las Vegas Invitational in a playoff (90-hole event) at TPC Summerlin, and then the Walt Disney World Classic at Magnolia GC in Orlando. The only other player to accomplish this is Hall of Famer Ben Crenshaw, who won the 1973 NCAA’s and then the San Antonio Texas Open.

Wolff is also the first non-member to win on TOUR since 2018 (Satoshi Kodaira, RBC Heritage), and the first sponsor invite to win since 2016 (Billy Hurley III, Quicken Loans National).

With the win, he pockets $1.15M and is immediately eligible for the FedExCup Playoffs. Wolff is currently 72^nd in the FEC Standings with 502 FEC points, the same amount that Jordan Spieth has in 18 starts. Wolff is in the published field at this coming week’s John Deere Classic.

One-time TOUR winner Adam Hadwin, who was attempting to become the third Scottsdale, Arizona, resident to win in as many weeks, shot 67 for solo 4^th, three adrift.

Final Leaderboard (pre-tourney odds outright):

1- (-21, 263) Matthew Wolff (125/1)

2- (-20, 264) Bryson DeChambeau (14/1)

2- (-20, 264) Collin Morikawa (70/1)

4- (-18, 266) Adam Hadwin (50/1)

5- (-17, 267) Carlos Ortiz (200/1)

5- (-17, 267) Wyndham Clark (100/1)

Wolff’s Position by Round:

R1: T49 (7 back)

R2: T35 (8 back)

R3: T1

How Wolff Won the Tournament:

Ranked 1^st (or T1) in: Total Birdies; Birdie or Better Percentage; Par-4 Scoring; SG: Tee-to-Green

Ranked 2^nd (or T2) in: SG: Approach; All-Around

Note: See “Strokes Gained Leaders Stats” at the bottom, along with his full stats.

Least Important Stat(s): Scrambling (ranked T62); SG: Putting (39^th); Total Bogeys (T38); Par-3 Scoring (T32); Driving Accuracy (T31)

Q&A:

Moderator: What an amazing day, what an amazing finish. I think you’ve excited a lot of people here. There are a lot of things that go with this victory that we’ll get to shortly, but just some comments first about the last, the emotions and what it means to you right now.

A: I don’t think it’s really settled in yet. It’s life changing. It’s something that I’ve always dreamed of as a kid growing up. This round was – I learned a lot from it, but to have it end like this was everything I could have hoped and wished for. The putt on the last was, gosh, something that changed my life forever.

Moderator: Well, with this victory you become a TOUR member. There’s a lot of things that go with that; the two-year exemption…the Masters, so many different things that come to you. Have you had a chance to think about what is the most important thing? Is it the exemption, is it a specific tournament that you’re looking forward to?

A: I would say the Masters. That’s something I’ve always dreamed of. My birthday is April 14^th, so I don’t know what it falls on next year, but when Tiger won it this year it was on my birthday. So, it would be pretty cool to get that Masters win on my birthday.

Wolff’s TOUR Career:

Starts: 4 (3 pro)

Cuts Made: 3 (75.0%)

Top 25s: 1 (25.0%)

Top 10s: 1 (25.0%)

Top 3s: 1 (25.0%)

Wins: 1 (25.0%)

Wolff’s Season:

Starts: 4 (3 pro)

Cuts Made: 3

Top 25s: 1

Top 10s: 1

Top 3s: 1

Wins: 1

Season Form: 1-MC-80-50(a)

Note: Wolff’s TOUR debut resulted in a T50 at the 2019 WM Phoenix Open (67-70-72-72) while still an amateur.

Wolff on Sunday:

After kicking off with 69-67 and week-tying-low 62, he co-led with Morikawa and DeChambeau, and hit 10 (of 14) fairways and 17 greens in regulation. Wolff squared a lone bogey-5 at hole 9 (3-putt from 65'7"), outflanked by five birdies at 2, 5, 10, 14 (from 9'8") and 15, and the big birdie at the last.

He posted 1.105 SG: Off-the-Tee, 2.997 SG: Approach, 1.258 SG: Around, 5.360 SG: Tee-to-Green, and -1.963 SG: Putting with 29 total putts.

OUT: 1-under 34 (2 birdies, 1 bogey); Wolff, in a 7-way T2, trails by 1 (leader: Wyndham Clark playing the 10^th; 3-under thru 9, 17-under total).

IN: 5-under 31 (3 birdies, 1 eagle); Wolff WINS by 1 (over DeChambeau and Morikawa).

Wolff wrapped the week with one eagle and 26 birdies against seven bogeys.

By the Numbers:

1969: The 3M was the first non-major TOUR event in Minnesota since the 1969 Minnesota Golf Classic, and the first of any kind since the 2009 PGA Championship at Hazeltine. The 2016 Ryder Cup was also held at Hazeltine.

6: There are now just six events (four weeks) remaining in the regular season, including one major (The Open), one WGC (FedEx St. Jude), and two opposite-field events.

MC: Last week’s (first-time) winner of the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic, Nate Lashley, MC by three on even-par 142 (69-73).

65: World No. 1 Brooks Koepka, a pre-tourney 7/1 fave outright, was one of 16 players to make the cut (T70) on the number. He finished 65^th (of 73) on 6-under 278 (67-72-67-72), 15 shots back.

1: Through 36 non-team events this season, the pre-tourney fave/co-fave has won one time: Rory McIlroy (12/1) at THE PLAYERS.

20: At 20 years of age, Wolff is the youngest winner on TOUR since 19-year-old Spieth at the 2013 John Deere.

62: Wolff’s 10-birdie 62 in R3 was a career low in a then-12 rounds, previously 67 (x2), and matched the low round of the week with three others. It catapulted him from T35 (eight back) to T1.

13/2: Wolff’s revised outright betting entering R4.

13: Wolff is the 13^th player this season (thru 36 non-team events) to MC the start prior and then win in their next start, first since Rory McIlroy at the RBC Canadian Open four events ago.

T2: With his career-best T2, Morikawa is now eligible for Special Temporary Membership for the remainder of the season. Like Wolff, his is in the published field at the John Deere.

T23: First-time member (not a rookie) Joaquin Niemann, who arrived off consecutive career-tying-best T5s, finished T23 after being T9 thru 54 holes (73-63-65-70).

T5: Carlos Ortiz (64) and TOUR rookie Wyndham Clark (68) finished T5, Clark’s a career best in 31 events, supplanting T7 at the Honda 12 starts ago, where he was the 54-hole leader by one. Clark also claimed low-rookie honors of 19 that were in the field.

16: Matt Kuchar (idle) remained atop the FEC standings for the 16^th week this season, including the last 15 weeks in a row.