Scottie Scheffler, fueled by hot putter, shoots bogey-free 65 in first round of 3M Open

Mark Craig, Star Tribune on Jul 23, 2026

Published in Golf

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BLAINE, Minn. — Not only did world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler show up in Minnesota as scheduled, his putter finally showed up, too.

A week after struggling to a 144th-place ranking in strokes gained putting at the British Open, where he tied for fourth despite the week’s best tee-to-green performance, Scheffler shot a bogey-free 6-under 65 Thursday morning in the opening round of the 3M Open at the TPC of the Twin Cities in Blaine.

When his round ended, he was tied atop the leaderboard while leading the field in strokes gained putting (3.422) and ranking third in feet of putts made (134-6).

“Fresh greens are a little bit easier than links greens,” Scheffler said after his first round in competition in Minnesota. “Part of playing links golf is the ball’s not going to roll true every single time.

“I felt like I was just on the wrong end of that last week. Got here and made sure I was lined up where I thought it was and made sure I was hitting it on that line. That’s about it.”

Easy peasy.

Large crowds of Minnesotans were treated to a crisp round of golf from the best golfer in the world. Scheffler hit 15 of 18 greens, made six birdie putts, including ones from 28, 16, 14, 13 and 10 feet, and avoided a three-putt.

“I would love for [a good day putting] to be that predictable,” he said. “I actually missed a short putt on the first. I had like maybe an 8-, 10-footer on the first hole, it didn’t go in but I hit it the way I wanted to.

“Yeah, golf’s funny. Some days you’re hitting your lines and the line seems to be tracking toward the hole and other days it feels like you’re doing the same thing and it kind of goes around the hole.

“But today was a day in which I was able to hole some nice putts and that’s why I was able to make some birdies out there.”

Scheffler is only the fourth men’s world No. 1 to play in Minnesota since the rankings began in 1986. Ian Woosnam finished tied for 55th at the 1991 U.S. Open at Hazeltine. Tiger Woods finished second in the 2002 and 2009 PGA Championships at Hazeltine and Brooks Koepka finished 65th in the 3M Open debut in 2019.

Unlike Koepka, who seemed unfocused and uncaring in 2019, Scheffler was locked in Thursday and, actually, Wednesday as well when he shot a 5-under 31 on the front nine while playing his pro-am alongside Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.

Scheffler was asked whether the large, enthusiastic crowds helped him on Thursday.

“I mean, not really,” he said, “but it’s more fun I would say playing in front of the big crowd than if there was nobody out there.

“It’s fun to get the support and to hear some cheers. Yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s motivating, but it’s definitely a lot of fun to play in front of people like that. It was a ton of fun. A really good crowd, especially for an early tee time.”

Scheffler started on the back nine and was only 1 under when he reached the 607-yard par-5 18th hole — one of the more entertaining risk-reward water holes on tour. His 289-yard drive hit the fairway and left him 277 yards to the hole.

“The wind was pretty much straight across,” he said. “It was a little bit in between clubs for us, so ended up just obviously taking more club because there’s water short. You really can get rewarded for hitting the fairway there, but that second shot can be daunting.”

Scheffler’s second shot left him in the left greenside rough, 73 feet from the hole. He chipped to 16 feet and then did something he didn’t do often enough in the season’s final major a week earlier.

Unlike Royal Birkdale, where Scheffler missed seven birdie putts inside of 15 feet in the second round alone, Scheffler made the 16 footer to begin a stretch of five birdies in his final 10 holes at a course and in a state in which he had never before played.

“It is a little different playing somewhere you haven’t played before,” he said. “My prep this week was a little shorter than it normally would have been on a new golf course. But I did a good job of giving myself some looks. And I holed some putts today.”