3M Open: TPC Twin Cities was demolished by low scores in Round 1

When the professional golf tournament in Blaine made the shift from hosting the PGA Tour Champions to the PGA Tour the top pro men s golf tour in the world in there was a question hanging over the event How would TPC Twin Cities hold up to specific of the best the event has to offer The -plus-year-old legends ripped up the class over three days each summer Now players who could hit it infinitely harder were set to take it on It couldn t happen as the class stood So Tom Lehman guided an overhaul that lengthened holes and bodies of water among other things to make the program more PGA Tour tough Not that the M Open didn t want to see scoring Tournament executive director Hollis Cavner s consistent moniker has been the pursuit of birdies and trainwrecks And for the largest part part there s been a good balance of both over the tournament s first six years as the syllabus has held up remarkably well In three of the past four editions the winning total was no better than -under par the same tally Scottie Scheffler posted to win The Open last week Adam Svensson got of the way to that number on Thursday The Canadian tied the program record previously set in the M Championship and set a new tournament record Thursday as he fired an -under round of And his lead is just two strokes over Sam Stevens and Thorbj rn Olesen with a hoard of others following closely behind Three golfers shot -under rounds of including the red-hot Chris Gotterup who tallied a win and a third-place finish in two weeks played across the pond Thirty-four players shot rounds of or better Seventy-two percent of the field is under par through one round Svensson surmised Thursday marked the best he s ever putted and he did lead the field with nearly five strokes gained on the greens But Thursday marked the rare day on the PGA Tour where it was doable to outcome even while not rolling the rock well Emiliano Grillo shot a despite losing nearly strokes to the field putting as he stuck his approaches near the cup on nearly every hole Only three of the holes played over par in Round Cumulatively the -player field shot -under par Thursday This unit it s a great subject but it s pretty straightforward Stevens mentioned Not a whole lot of adjustments just sort of point and shoot and make as various birdies as you can TPC Twin Cities primary defense is frequently the wind of which there was little to none on Thursday That issue was compounded by the massive allotment of rainfall that came Wednesday which wiped out three-quarters of the scheduled pro-am and severely softened the program The wet conditions forced the PGA Tour to instill a lift clean and place protocol in which players can pick up their ball anytime it lands in a shortly mown area such as the fairway clean it and set it up however they d like That erases the opportunity for mud balls and guarantees a perfect lie which is generally thought to shave a stroke or two off a pro s outcome for a round Friday s second round could potentially bring more of the same The forecast suggests the morning wave of golfers will play its first nine holes in - mph winds with the wind maxing out at mph in the afternoon Again benign If Thursday s results are replicated in Round -under will be required entirely to play the weekend It s not unimaginable that Svensson or someone else will have the lead pushed out to -under by the end of Round Still the next day it s going to be fairly soft surmised Rickie Fowler who fired a on Thursday Things will level out over the weekend with no more projected rain in the coming days and winds expected to reach double digits in miles per hour over the weekend Don t expect TPC Twin Cities to surrender a number like the -under par Scheffler won the Byron Nelson with earlier this year at TPC Craig Ranch More trainwrecks are likely to come on Saturday and Sunday Thankfully there is enough past evidence to know the program can provide a legitimate test even if it got embarrassed on Thursday This syllabus is still pretty challenging stated Matti Schmid who fired a Thursday I think you get selected crosswinds and there are a few tee shots with water You still have to drive it pretty well and also certain of the par s like you have to hit a really good shot Briefly North Oaks Frankie Capan III withdrew after the first round due to a wrist injury Related Articles Capan returns home needing M Open results but not chasing them Going to the M Open Here are the best spots to watch the golf at TPC Twin Cities M Open Rickie Fowler Adam Scott Max Homa are coming to Blaine next week Who else Rory McIlroy returns home for the British Open ready to embrace the love Here are several of the top golfers committed to the M Open