Scottie Scheffler among those trying to keep up with the kids at the 3M Open

Mark Craig, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jul 25, 2026

Published in Golf

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BLAINE, Minn. — Moving day at the 3M Open in Blaine saw Michael Kim come down to earth, Jackson Koivun shoot over the moon and Scottie Scheffler awaken from a 27-hole slumber with a back-nine 29 to lurk inside the top 10 and cast a World No. 1-sized shadow on the leaderboard heading into Sunday’s final round at the TPC of the Twin Cities.

“You just got to keep your foot on the gas around here,” was the quote of the day, spoken by the 21-year-old Koivun, a three-time national college player of the year from Auburn, who shot a 10-under 61 with two eagles in a tournament-record 28 on the back nine to reach 20 under and take a three-shot lead over Emiliano Grillo (65) and Ben Kohles (65).

Oh yeah, this also happens to be only the third PGA Tour event Koivun has played since turning pro after tying for 23rd place as an amateur at the U.S. Open.

“These kids are playing better than ever,” Grillo, 33, said with a nod toward Koivun in the interview tent after the round. “It’s tough to keep up with them.”

The wind laid down all day, making Saturday a birdie/eagle-fest for just about everyone in the field except for Kim, the guy who spent Friday shooting 59 for only the 16th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history.

Thirty-eight of the top 40 players on the leaderboard broke 70 on Saturday. The guy who broke 60 the day before was one of only two that shot 70 and is tied for sixth at 15 under.

“I was pleasantly surprised at how calm I was feeling heading to the first tee,” after shooting the first 59 in his life, Kim said. “But I left a lot of putts short.”

Kim had 24 putts total during his 12-birdie round on Friday. Saturday, he had 24 putts with six holes still to play and had only two birdies all day.

Of the 14 previous players to shoot 59, only five went on to win their tournaments. And Jim Furyk’s tour-record 58 came as he finished fourth at the 2016 Travelers.

There were three 63s shot Saturday, including one by 24-year-old Michael Brennan, who’s 16 under, tied with Chandler Phillips for fourth place. There were four 64s shot, including one by Denny McCarthy, who’s 15 under, and one by a guy named Scheffler, who is 14 under and in a four-way tie for ninth.

Scheffler sitting six back isn’t bad for a guy who was even-par for the day and just 1 under on his last 27 holes as he made the long walk from the ninth green to the 10th tee.

Asked what he was telling himself on that long walk, Scheffler laughed and said, “Probably some stuff I shouldn’t repeat if it’s being recorded. But, yeah, I just tried to do my best to stay in it. Hit a nice wedge there into 10 and made a nice putt at 11 and kind of figured I needed to make as many birdies as I could coming in.”

Scheffler birdied five holes on the back, including the first three, and chipped in for eagle on the drivable par-4 16th.

“Golf’s funny that way,” Scheffler said of his turnaround. “I didn’t really feel like I was that much different on the back nine than I was on the front. Just holed a couple putts and hit the ball slightly closer on the back.”

Scheffler is six shots back. The largest final-round comeback in the 3M Open’s first seven years is five shots by Tony Finau in 2022. The largest final-round comeback on tour this season also is five by Chris Gotterup at the John Deere Classic.

But this is Scottie Scheffler. World No. 1 the last 166 weeks spanning four years. He has four major wins, 22 wins overall and an Olympics gold medal. All captured in the last four years.

And, judging by the number of “Scottie” chants around the course this week, he’ll be the rooting favorite on Sunday.

“The support this week has been tremendous,” said Scheffler, who mentioned he would consider coming back here to play next year. “It’s been a really fun environment to be a part of and looking forward to getting back out there [Sunday].”

Can Scheffler make up six shots playing five groups before the final pairing of Koivun and Grillo?

Well, let’s just say the eight players ahead of him aren’t a who’s who of proven PGA Tour success. Here is where each of them sit in the world golf rankings: Koivun (206), Grillo (113), Brennan (61), Kohles (128), McCarthy (103), Phillips (168), Kim (57) and Billy Horschel (176).

In terms of PGA Tour victories, Horschel has eight. The other seven have four combined, including zero by Koivun, Kohles, McCarthy and Phillips. Grillo has two wins while Kim and Brennan have one apiece.

Koivun, who tied Lee Hodges’ 54-hole tournament scoring record, was asked how it feels in his third tournament as a professional to be “looking six shots down the leaderboard” at Scheffler.

“I’m sure he’s going to go up there and put a good number and get in contention,” Koivun said. “He’s obviously the best in the world for a reason.”