THORBJORN OLESEN MOVES IN FRONT AT 3M OPEN
Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen overcame a double bogey and took over the lead at the 3M Open by posting a 5-under-par 66 Friday at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minn.
Olesen entered the weekend at 14-under 128, one shot above Jake Knapp (65 Friday) and two ahead of Pierceson Coody (65) and Sam Stevens (68).
Olesen was 1 over par six holes into his round after hitting his tee shot out of bounds at the par-4 15th and hitting a poor shot off his drop. He proceeded to birdie the next two holes to erase that blemish, then add four birdies on the front nine.
“There was two great shots there,” Olesen said. “On (No. 16), I hit it to I think 3 or 4 feet, and also on 17 I hit it really close. Yeah, I mean, my iron play has been great. I didn’t — I felt pretty comfortable even though I made a double still, so that’s a good thing.”
Olesen, 35, is a veteran with eight wins on the DP World Tour but none in the United States. He started the week No. 129 in the FedEx Cup standings but said he’s simply taking every week as it comes.
“Every week is an opportunity to try and bounce back and do something special,” Olesen said.
Knapp is bogey-free through 36 holes as he seeks his second PGA Tour win. He opened his round with three straight birdies at Nos. 10-12.
“Feel like I’m kind of doing everything pretty good for the most part,” Knapp said. “I haven’t made too many putts, but yeah, I feel like it’s been, you know, kind of mistake-free for the most part. I haven’t really had to scramble too much.”
Tied for fifth at 11 under were Japan’s Takumi Kanaya (bogey-free 64), German Matti Schmid (68) and Chris Kirk (67).
A collection of notable names at 10 under included Wyndham Clark (65), Chris Gotterup (69), Akshay Bhatia (66) and Joel Dahmen (65). Alex Noren of Sweden joined them there by posting the round of the day, a 9-under 62 with an eagle-birdie-birdie-bogey finish.
“Today I understand why I love golf so much,” Noren quipped. “It’s a fantastic sport because it is tough and then when you get it right, it’s lovely.”
Canadian Adam Svensson broke the course record Thursday with an 11-under 60 but turned the wrong way Friday, posting a 4-over 75 to drop back to 7 under.
Max Homa (8 under following a 68), Rickie Fowler (7 under; 70) and Sam Burns (7 under; 64) made the cut, which landed at 5 under par as Friday’s round finished.
Those who missed the weekend included China’s Haotong Li (4 under), who was in the final Sunday pairing with Scottie Scheffler at last week’s Open Championship; Sahith Theegala (2 under); and Tony Finau (4 over), a former 3M Open champion who made back-to-back double bogeys en route to a 77 Friday.
PADRAIG HARRINGTON RIDES HIS LUCK INTO SENIOR OPEN LEAD
Padraig Harrington shot a 5-under-par 65 to take a one-stroke lead over a hard-charging Thomas Bjorn halfway through the ISPS Handa Senior Open on Friday at Sunningdale in Berkshire, England.
Harrington climbed the leaderboard to 8-under 132, one over Denmark’s Bjorn and defending champion K.J. Choi of South Korea. Bjorn shot a sterling 7-under 63 to catapult into contention, and Choi posted a 67.
Harrington had five birdies, including at Sunningdale’s first and last holes, while keeping his scorecard clean of bogeys. The Irishman has already collected two senior major titles — the 2022 and 2025 U.S. Senior Opens — and now he’s starting to close in on his third.
“I rode my luck a lot today. Got my head in the game,” Harrington said. “Did a lot of good stuff mentally. Short game was sharp.”
To Harrington’s point, he said he had “three crazy things” distract him during his round — a falling acorn while he was playing a shot beneath a tree, a bug landing on him during a backstroke and a leaf falling in front of his ball.
“I wouldn’t want to play like that — well, I would like to score like that the next two days, but I wouldn’t think I’m going to get away with it,” Harrington said.
Bjorn only shot an even-par 70 in the first round but shot out of the gates Friday with four birdies in his first five holes. After another birdie at No. 9, he holed an eagle at the short par-4 11th.
“Hit a great drive and just clipped the overhanging tree and fell down,” Bjorn said of No. 11. “It was one of those where you just kind of go, well, thank you very much.”
Bjorn admitted he was “very angry” with himself over a ho-hum first round, which ended with a double bogey.
“Just got out here in that mode of I know I played well yesterday and I was hitting the ball well,” Bjorn said. “… Wanted to get off to a start and hit a great shot on 2 which it’s not like a given birdie, and then I hit some good shots from there.”
Choi could have been higher up the leaderboard if not for consecutive bogeys at Nos. 16-17 taking him down a few pegs.
“I’m still very nervous and very exciting,” Choi said. “Very good player stronger, more stronger every year. So my game is every day new game, new start, patience, pray a lot. So my heart is a little stable, right? Not up and down.”
Australian Cameron Percy (65), Justin Leonard (65), Ernie Els of South Africa (67) and Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina (67) are tied for fourth at 6 under par.
First-round leader Steven Alker of New Zealand followed an opening 63 with a second-round 73 to drop back to 4 under.
BIRDIE RUN HAS ADRIAN MERONK TIED AT TOP OF LIV UK
Adrian Meronk of Poland used a run of five birdies in six holes to forge a three-way atop the leaderboard after the opening round at Hemel Hempstead, England.
Joaquin Niemann of Chile and Branden Grace of South Africa also share first place after all three leaders shot a 6-under par 65 at Centurion Club.
Bubba Watson was in a three-way tie for fourth place at 5 under along with Lee Westwood of England and Carlos Ortiz of Mexico. A group of four at 4 under and tied for seventh included England’s Paul Casey and Tyrrell Hatton, along with American Caleb Surratt and Australia’s Marc Leishman.
Meronk was a mere 1 under through seven holes after a bogey 5 at the sixth. He had consecutive birdies at Nos. 8 and 9 before a par 5 on No. 10 after the turn. He then rattled off three more birdies, including the last at the 639-yard, par-5 13th hole.
After winning the season-opening event at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in February, Meronk has his game back on track.
“It’s nice to be in this position again, obviously getting off to a good start this season,” Meronk said. “… Finally I’m enjoying myself on the course and playing good golf again, which is quite exciting. It’s great to be back in this position, and I’m really looking forward to this weekend and to three more tournaments this year.”
Niemann had four birdies on the front nine and finished off a bogey-free round with a par on the final five holes of the day. With three events remaining in the season after this week, all in the United States, Niemann sits atop the player standings.
“I think I’m on a really privileged situation to be on the top of the rankings and being chased by Jon (Rahm) and Bryson (DeChambeau),” said Niemann, who has won four times this season. “It just makes me a better athlete. I like that pressure. I like playing like that. I’ve just got to try my best.”
Grace was at 7 under on the day before a bogey at the par-4 15th hole. He finished his round with three consecutive pars.
Watson was set to join the leaders at 6 under until a bogey at the 244-yard, par-3 17th hole. He entered the week 31st in the overall standings and is in the “Open Zone” as relegation approaches, but well above the “Drop Zone” line.
“There’s a lot more stress, 100 percent,” Watson said. “… There’s a lot of having to step up and hit great golf shots because they know what’s on the line to be in an elite league like this. They want a contract. They want to be able to play here next year, so there’s a lot of stress out there for sure.”
Westwood is in 45th place in the overall standings and much improved after a strong showing in the LIV event at Virginia in June.
“Golf is the type of game where you feel like you’ve finally got it and it doesn’t give you the score that you think you should do, right? It never quite lets you,” Westwood said. “But then that final round (at Virginia), I shot 9-under I think, and that was kind of the trigger to give me some confidence that the good stuff I was working on on the range and on the putting green and on the short game area was paying off score-wise.”
LOTTIE WOAD LEADS NELLY KORDA BY 2 AT SCOTTISH OPEN
England’s Lottie Woad, competing in her first tournament as a pro, has a two-stroke lead over World No. 1 Nelly Korda at the midway point of the ISPS Women’s Scottish Open.
Woad, 21, carded a 7-under 65 on Friday to move to 12-under at Dundonald Links in Ayrshire, Scotland. She was the No. 1 amateur in the world before turning pro after a T3 finish at the Evian Championship two weeks ago.
Korda and Denmark’s Nanna Koerstz Madsen both shot 66 in the second round and are tied for second at 10-under. Sei Young Kim (67) is in solo fourth at 9-under and fellow South Korean Hyo Joo Kim (66) is another shot back in solo fifth.
Woad collected seven birdies during a clean round, including birdies at all four par-5 holes.
“Bogey-free is always nice,” Woad said. “Hit a lot of greens … a lot of fairways, and then holed a few nice putts.”
Woad’s remarkable month began with a six-shot victory at the Women’s Irish Open, which made her the first amateur to win on the Ladies European Tour since 2022. She finished 13-under at the Evian Championship the following week, one shot behind winner Grace Kim.
“I’m obviously just kind of trying to continue the momentum really,” Woad said. “Obviously trying to play well, and, yeah, just got confidence and keep on doing that.”
Woad played the first two rounds with Korda, whose round Friday featured seven birdies and one bogey at the par-5 18th hole.
Korda is still looking for her first win of the season, which includes a T2 at the U.S. Women’s Open, as players ramp up for next week’s AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales.
“I started out strong with two birdies on my first two holes, and then the wind kind of died down throughout the day, so capitalized on the weather,” Korda said. “Yeah, just hit it really well and I have only missed four greens through two days so happy with that. Hopefully I can continue trending in the right direction.”
Koerstz Madsen also had seven birdies and one bogey on Friday despite the weather conditions.
“It was chilly this morning,” she said. “A lot more wind today than yesterday. Yeah, a little bit more tricky.”
Defending champion Lauren Coughlin (70) is part of a seven-way tie for 12th at 4-under.
First-round leader Charlotte Laffar of England plummeted into a tie for 91st place and missed the cut after a 10-over 82 on Friday.
