COMPLETED First-Round Notes – Friday, July 23, 2021
Weather: Thursday: Mostly cloudy. High of 88. Wind S 6-12 mph, with gusts to 17 mph. Due to inclement weather, round one was suspended from 11:28 a.m. to 1:52 p.m. CT (2 hours, 24 minutes). Play was suspended due to darkness at 8:54 p.m., with 11 players yet to complete their round. Friday: Mostly cloudy. High of 93. Wind SSW 10-15 mph. The first round resumed at 7:59 a.m. Friday and was completed at 8:26 a.m. The second round began as scheduled at 6:50 a.m.
First-Round Leaderboard
Troy Merritt 64 (-7)
Jhonattan Vegas 64 (-7)
Roger Sloan 64 (-7)
Scott Stallings 65 (-6)
Adam Schenk 65 (-6)
Things to Know
- Following a final-round 5-under 65 at The Open Championship last week, Rickie Fowler opens with a bogey-free 7-under 64
- Fowler makes 114’3” of total putts in 3M Open debut
- After missed cuts in last two PGA TOUR starts, Troy Merritt birdies six of his inward nine holes to open with a 7-under 64
- Jhonattan Vegas makes his seventh birdie of the day at his last hole, No. 18, to claim a share of the lead
- Roger Sloan records sixth round of 64 or better on TOUR
- Scott Stallings makes eight birdies in an 11-hole stretch before ending his round with a double bogey at the par-5 18th
- World No. 2 Dustin Johnson opens with a 1-under 70 in his second start at the 3M Open (WD/2020)
First-Round Lead Notes
5 First-round leaders/co-leaders to win in 2020-21 (most recent: Matt Jones/The Honda Classic)
0 First-round leaders/co-leaders to win the 3M Open
62 Lowest opening-round score at the 3M Open (Scott Piercy/2019/T15)
Comparing the leaders (entering the week)
Player | Rickie Fowler | Troy Merritt | Jhonattan Vegas | Roger Sloan |
Age | 32 (12/13/1988) | 35 (10/25/1985) | 36 (8/19/1984) | 34 (5/15/1987) |
FedExCup | 124 | 66 | 72 | 147 |
OWGR | 104 | 90 | 130 | 379 |
PGA TOUR starts | 272 | 255 | 251 | 93 |
PGA TOUR wins | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
PGA TOUR top-10s | 73 | 20 | 24 | 3 |
3M Open starts | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
3M Open wins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
3M Open top-10s | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Starts in 2020-21 | 22 | 30 | 22 | 23 |
Wins in 2020-21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Top-10s in 2020-21 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
Rickie Fowler (T1/-7)
- In his 3M Open debut, made seven birdies and no bogeys to post his first bogey-free round since round one of the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic (70; T32)
- 7-under 64 marks his lowest score on PGA TOUR a 64 in round one of the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (T15)
- In his first 47 rounds on TOUR this season, posted no bogey-free scores; round one marks his fifth in his last 26 rounds
- Highlight of a total of 114’3” of putts was a four-hole stretch with putts made from outside eight feet: No. 18/8’7”, No. 1/29’3”, No. 2/13’9” and No. 3/8’9”
- Marks his eighth consecutive under-par opening round, a career best
- On six previous occasions when holding an 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR, the only one that resulted in victory was the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open
- Seeks a sixth career PGA TOUR title and first since the 2019 Waste Management Phoenix Open
- T8/PGA Championship marks his lone top-10 finish of the season
- Comes off a T53 from last week’s The Open Championship
Troy Merritt (T1/-7)
- Following missed cuts in his last two starts on TOUR, birdied his last two holes – and eight total – to open with a 7-under 64; lone bogey came at the par-4 ninth
- Hit 11 of 14 fairways and 16 of 18 greens in regulation; totaled 108’3” of made putts (29 putts); was 16-for-16 making putts inside 15 feet
- On three previous occasions when holding an 18-hole leads/co-lead, the 2018 Barbasol Championship resulted in victory
- Prior to his two most recent missed cuts, lost to Cam Davis on the fifth hole of a playoff at the Rocket Mortgage Classic
- Seeks a career-best fifth top-10 finish of the season and third career TOUR title (2015 Quicken Loans National, 2018 Barbasol Championship)
Jhonattan Vegas (T1/-7)
- Made seven birdies, including one at his last of the day, the par-5 18th, and no bogeys to claim a share of the lead
- In his only previous 3M Open start, missed the cut in 2020
- Is 0-for-4 when holding an 18-hole lead/co-lead
- Most recent of three top-10 finishes this season, a T2, came at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree last month; in most recent start, finished T11 at the John Deere Classic two weeks ago
- Seeks a fourth career PGA TOUR victory and first since the 2017 RBC Canadian Open
Roger Sloan (T1/-7)
- En route to a bogey-free, 7-under 64, recorded his sixth round of 64 or better on TOUR
- Second 18-hole lead/co-lead of his PGA TOUR career (2020 Wyndham Championship)
- Making third consecutive start in the 3M Open with a T15 in 2019 his best showing
- Best finish in 23 starts this season is T16 from the 2020 Bermuda Championship
- Best finish on TOUR to date: T2 at 2019 Puerto Rico Open
Miscellaneous Notes
- Scott Stallings (-6) made eight birdies in an 11-hole stretch, before ending with a double bogey at the par-5 18th
- After starting with five straight pars, Adam Schenk (-6) made six birdies on his last 13 holes, good for a bogey-free 65; as he works towards his first career TOUR title, comes off a T4 and T15 in his last two starts at the John Deere Classic and Barbasol Championship, respectively
- Following his T3 at The Open Championship last week, Louis Oosthuizen opened with a 3-under 68
- World No. 2 Dustin Johnson opened with a 1-under 70 in his second start at the 3M Open (WD/2020)
- Defending champion Michael Thompson opened with a 1-over 72; 2019 champion Matthew Wolff opened with a 2-under 69
- Making his third start on the PGA TOUR and first as a professional, former University of Minnesota standout and Minneapolis resident Angus Flanagan made four bogeys and three birdies to open with a 1-over 72
- Sangmoon Bae withdrew during round one with a neck injury
Scoring averages
Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative
R1 34.794 35.626 70.419 --
Toughest hole Easiest hole
R1 Par-4 9th (4.297) Par-5 12th (4.400)
Bogey-free rounds
R1 (7): Rickie Fowler (64), Jhonattan Vegas (64), Roger Sloan (64), Adam Schenk (65), Bo Hoag (67), K.H. Lee (69), Adam Long (70)
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