3M Open Key Fantasy Stats

3M Open

July 21st – 24th, 2022

TPC Twin Cities

Blaine, MN

Par: 71 / Yardage: 7,431

Purse: $7.5 million

with $1,350,000 to the winner

Defending Champion:
Cameron Champ

by Sal Johnson

Founder, Chief Data Officer, GOLFstats

E-mail me at:
sal@golfstats.com

This is based on the most vital stats from TPC Twin Cities, data from last year’s 3M Open, and data from all the players in the field with stats from 2022.
Last year was the third year of the 3M Open. It was a popular venue Champions Tour event before making the switch for 2019. The switch proved very successful as the community got in the back of the tournament and made it a mainstay for the Minnesota area. Now the heart and soul of the event is the course, TPC Twin Cities. It’s a course most players like because they can produce a low score on it. Last year the scoring average was 70.44, half a shot under par, and it was the 24th hardest course on Tour. Winner Cameron Champ scored 15 under par and had 21 birdies for the week. The previous year it played to a 69.95 scoring average, which is a shot below its par. Ranking-wise, it was 23d hardest on the PGA Tour.
With the course playing this easy, it’s not surprising that the course had more birdies made on it (1,976) than any other course in 2019. In 2020 the course had 1,769 birdies, placing it 36th out of 41 courses, and last year 1,687 birdies were made, placing it 42nd out of 51 courses. So it’s important to note that making birdies could be one of the essential parts of playing well at TPC Twin Cities.
So the stats make the point that this is a bombers course. The same with eagles, last year 38 were made, and that is good for a course that only has three par 5s.

In our four categories, we have picked four needed to win. First, we will use Strokes Gained Tee-the-Green, which looks at the combination of length of drive off the tee, accuracy, and ability to hit greens. Last year the average drive was 300.3 yards for measured drives and ranked 37th, meaning that only 14 other courses on the Tour saw longer driving averages. As for accuracy off the tee, the course was 28th with 62.66% of the drives in the fairway. Looking at last year’s winner Cameron Champ, he ranked 8th in driving distance and T-49th in accuracy, so he ranked 27th in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green. In 2020, winner Michael Thompson ranked 46th in driving distance and T-22nd in accuracy, so he ranked 17th in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green. As for 2019 winner Matthew Wolff, he ranked 36th in Driving Distance and T-31st in Accuracy, so he ranked 1st in Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green.
Our 2nd category is Greens in Regulation. This is a type of course where greens are pretty easy to hit in regulation, so TPC Twin Cities was ranked 38th on Tour with 70.38% of the greens hit. So this shows that a lot of players hit the greens last year. The winner last year, Champ, hit 54 of 72 greens for a 75.00%, ranking T-22nd. In 2020 Thompson hit 60 of 72 for 83.33%, ranking T-3rd. In 2019, winner Wolff hit 60 of 72 for 83.33%, which ranked T-6th. Runner-up Louis Oosthuizen hit the most greens, 62 of the 72.
Our 3rd category is Strokes Gained Putting which is an integral part of the game. Last year the putting average at TPC Twin Cities was 1.775 as the course ranked 22nd. It averaged 29.49 putts per round, ranking it 14th, and in the important inside ten feet, it ranked 37th. As for last year’s winner Champ, he took 109 putts which ranked 1st, and in Strokes Gained Putting, was ranked 1st. In 2020 Thompson took 115 putts, ranking 1st, and Strokes Gained Putting was 1st. In putts inside ten feet, he ranked 3rd, making 61 of 64 putts. In 2019 Wolff took 115 putts which ranked T-25th, and in Strokes Gained Putting, he was 39th. In the critical putts made inside 10 feet, Wolff made 65 of 71 and ranked T-27th.
The last category is Par Breakers. As we said earlier in this piece, 1,687 birdies were made on the course, with only nine other courses making more birdies. It had a total of 38 eagles, which ranked 33rd. Last year’s winner Cameron Champ made 21 birdies, ranked T-2nd, and didn’t make an eagle. So Champ was T-2nd in Par Breaker. In 2020 Michael Thompson made 22 birdies, ranked T-7th, and didn’t make an eagle. So Thompson was T-12th in Par Breaker. In 2019 TPC Twin Cities had a total of 52 eagles, which ranked 43rd and 39th in Par Breakers. Now Wolff made 26 birdies and one eagle as he was 1st in Par Breakers.
Wolff had an epic battle with Bryson DeChambeau, and his eagle on the 72nd hole was the reason he won the tournament by a shot. Thompson played great and cruised to a two-shot victory, the same with Champ last year.

*Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green: Combination of distance off the tee, accuracy off the tee, and hitting greens

*Greens in Regulation: Number of greens hit in regulation.

*Strokes Gained Putting: Gives the equivalent to putting based on strokes gained or lost

*Par Breakers: Who makes the most birdies and eagles per round.

Of the 156 players in the field, 105 have stats on the PGA Tour for 2021.

Click any column title in the table header to sort columns.