Scheffler opens with 65 at 3M Open to trail leader Kohles by three shots
World number one Scottie Scheffler has shaken off his recent putting struggles to post a six-under-par 65 at the 3M Open, keeping early pressure on overnight leader Ben Kohles.
World number one Scottie Scheffler opened his 3M Open campaign with a six-under-par 65 on Thursday, erasing the putting difficulties that hampered his finish at last week’s Open. The four-time major champion sits three shots behind overnight leader Ben Kohles at TPC Twin Cities.
Kohles set the early benchmark by carding a sensational 62, sealing his round with an eagle on the final hole. Emiliano Grillo, Jackson Koivun and Gary Woodland occupy the joint-second tier at seven under par, leaving Scheffler at six under.
Scheffler’s quick turnaround from Royal Birkdale, where he finished tied for fourth on Sunday, required an immediate adjustment to park-style golf. Starting on the back nine, he made steady progress with birdies on the 12th and 18th holes before adding further gains on the first, fourth, sixth and seventh.
Crucially, the world number one ranked second in the field for strokes gained putting on Thursday afternoon. This marked a sharp departure from his links golf frustrations, which he attributed to the unpredictable nature of the greens rather than a fundamental flaw in his technique.
"Fresh greens are a little bit easier than links greens," Scheffler noted. "Part of playing links golf is the ball's not going to roll true every single time, and I felt like I was just on the wrong end of that last week."
He emphasized that success on the greens often comes down to fine margins and confidence. "Golf's funny," he said, explaining that some days the ball tracks toward the hole while on others it circles it, but Thursday was a day he could hole nice putts to manufacture birdies.
For European observers, the tournament also marks the PGA Tour return of England’s Jordan Smith following his tied-18th finish at Royal Birkdale. The 33-year-old endured a volatile front nine, mixing a fifth-hole bogey and a sixth-hole birdie with a double bogey on the seventh after finding a water hazard.
Smith stabilized his round on the back nine, securing birdies on the 13th and 17th holes to finish at level par. His steady recovery underscores the challenging transition for European players moving from links conditions to the faster, more predictable surfaces of the American midwest.
