After one round of the 3M Open on Thursday, Adam Svensson finished with an 11-under 60, two shots ahead of Sam Stevens and Thorbjørn Olesen, thanks to a 48-foot eagle putt on the final hole.
Svensson tied the TPC Twin Cities course record set by Paul Goydos in the 2017 3M Championship on the PGA TOUR Champions, hit 9 birdies, and did not miss a shot in the tournament’s lowest round in its 7-year history.
Chris Gotterup, who won the Genesis Scottish Open two weeks ago and placed third at the Open Championship last week, was three shots behind Matti Schmid and Chad Ramey. Rickie Fowler and Emiliano Grillo were among those at 6 under, while Zac Blair, Chris Kirk, Jake Knapp, and Brendan Valdes were another shot behind.
The RSM Classic in 2022 is Svensson’s only TOUR victory. This season, the 31-year-old Canadian has made 21 starts, missed 11 cuts, and has one top-25 finish.
“Today’s range session was fantastic. I just made a ton of breakers and putted extremely well. It was probably my best putting round I ever had.” Svensson, who needed just 25 putts, including a nearly 40-foot birdie on the 11th hole and a 34-footer on the fourth, stated.
This season, his career-best score of 60 is the second-lowest on the PGA TOUR. At the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches in February, Jake Knapp shot 59.
On the par-5 18th hole, Stevens had the opportunity to shoot 59 with an eagle, but instead he hit his second shot from 246 yards into the water in front of the green, resulting in his only bogey and a 62, which remains his lowest round on the Tour.
“I hit a horrible shot, and my 3-iron and 3-wood are separated by a fairly large distance. To even cover the lake, I felt that I would need to hit a 3-iron perfectly because if I hit a 3-wood, it would just fly to the back of the green. However, I decided that was my best opportunity to shoot 59, so I tried.” he said.
In order to guarantee spots in the 70-man field for the first Playoffs event in two weeks, Fowler and Grillo, along with 18 other players who are ranked between 60th and 80th in the FedExCup standings, must put on a great showing. Grillo is ranked No. 71, while Fowler started the week at No. 63.
“Ultimately, a lot of problems can be resolved by playing good golf.” Fowler said.
Gary Woodland, who finished 78th, and Patrick Rodgers, who finished 66th, both shot 67. Cam Davis, ranked 65th, shot 71, while Keith Mitchell, ranked 70th, shot 68.
Jhonattan Vegas, the reigning champion, shot 68. Haotong Li shot 1-under 70, finishing tied for fourth at last week’s Open Championship, where he played in the last pairing alongside Scottie Scheffler.
