Scottie Scheffler finds little things in surprise 3M Open debut

BLAINE, Minn. – As a Minnesotan – meauthor of this article – I can assure you that Scottie Scheffler did all the right things in the Land of 10,000 Lakes this week. He went to town with his family and stopped at a local coffee shop on Monday (we are very busy with urban economic development), signed all the autographs after his practice round on Tuesday and praised the fans on Wednesday.

“The few people who saw me were good,” Scheffler said Wednesday, about his Monday trip to Minneapolis. “They asked for pictures, I was with my family so I said ‘No, not right now.’ They did not make faces, even if they were alike, No, no, I understand completely, thank you for being here. I’m happy with how nice people have been so far. “

Minnesota Nice. This is another tag line here. But many people are just happy that the World No. 1 is in town (year-on-year ticket sales prove it). And on Thursday, Scheffler’s arrival was well attended.

He played at 7:29 am local and had a huge gallery from the start. It swelled up as his round progressed. Another security officer accompanying the players changed his position to sit on Scheffler three times. The outgoing general manager was famous, too – everyone wanted a picture next to the sign with Scheffler’s name on it. When Scheffler aced the 4th 9th – his 18th hole of the day – the fans who hit the tees around the green protested what the tournament could see with the final pairing on the final hole come Sunday. (Though Scheffler might be on that too.)

Scheffler provided them with plenty of entertainment. He made six birdies and no bogeys en route to a 6-under 65, good for the clubhouse lead shortly after the finish. (Emiliano Grillo shot 64 moments later.)

“It was a lot of fun,” Scheffler said. “It was a really good crowd this morning, especially at breakfast. It’s always nice to play in front of a lot of people. The crowd support for all three of us in the team was really nice.”

In his pre-tournament press conference at TPC Twin Cities on Wednesday, Scheffler talked about the “ebbs and flows” of putting and the importance of the first line and the unpredictability of the links greens, where a balky putter held him back at last week’s Open Championship, where he still managed to finish 4th.

On Thursday, his luck turned. Scheffler finished first in Strokes Gained: Putting and made more than 130 feet.

“Golf is funny – some days you hit your lines and the line seems to follow the hole and other days it feels like you’re doing the same thing and going around the hole,” Scheffler said after his round. “But today was the day I was able to hit some good putts, that’s why I was able to make some birdies out there.”

Starting on the back nine, he missed a 7-footer for birdie on 10 but didn’t miss another from that hole in the round. He birdied both par-5s on the first nine and birdied three of his last six tee shots, one of which was a 28-footer on the par-3 4th hole.

Scheffler’s 65 came after just two days (and 18 holes) of preparation on a course he had never seen before. He hit 10 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. But the winner here always goes down; he will have to continue. He had fresh greens on Thursday but has a late tee time on Friday (1:44 pm ET).

“I didn’t hit a lot of fairways early, but I was able to manage my approach and get out of the rough spots without making bogeys,” Scheffler said. “That was important to keep my momentum going. Once I started hitting the fairways and looking, I was able to start making birdies.”