Weekly Fantasy Golf Preview: 3M Open

3M Open 

TPC Twin Cities
Blaine, MN

The PGA Tour heads to Blaine, MN this week for another edition of the 3M Open.

The sadness has set in, nine months to the next major, but before we close the chapter on this season, let's take a quick look back at what transpired at the Open Championship and what it means.

Chris Gotterup, good on you. That performance came out of nowhere and I could go on and on about just how impressive it was, but unfortunately, or fortunately I guess, it's Open Championship week, so I feel compelled to look ahead.

I wrote that this past week because, well, I was really impressed with his win at the Scottish Open. I might be more impressed with how he followed up that win at the Open Championship. What a run from a guy we knew very little about just a few weeks ago. Looking ahead, it will be interesting to see if he continues to raise his level or if this turns out to be just a guy getting on a heater for two weeks and he's never a factor again. There is a third possibly which is, he's simply a links golfer now.

Okay, now to THE story, Scottie Scheffler. What else can we say at this point? I've been on the "Scheffler is historically good" train for a while, so I can't really add much to what I've said in the past. This isn't a prolonged heater, he will go down as one of the 5-10 golfers when his career is over. He's not there yet, too much work to do, but as long as he stays healthy and focused, and let's be honest, he's about as level-headed as anyone we've seen, so why would his mentality change at this point, he'll go down as one of the game's greatest players ever.

And to cut off the Tiger comparisons, he's not Tiger, never will be, he can't be. Tiger came along at a much different stage of the game. Actually, there wasn't much of a game at the time, golf was truly a niche sport when Tiger came upon the scene, but he single-handedly changed that. Scheffler isn't transforming the game in any way, he's simply just dominating, much like Tiger, so in that aspect, yes, he's like Tiger, but in the bigger picture, he could never be Tiger and that's not a knock on Scheffler, that's an aspect of this conversation that's just simply out of Scheffler's control.

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What Scheffler can control is how he plays on the course and quite simply, he's the best golfer we've seen since Tiger and yes, that includes Rory McIlroy. With that said, Rory grabbed four majors awfully early in his career as well, and then forgot how to win a major, but the difference here is that Scheffler is also dominating the events between majors and when he's not dominating, he's in the mix. The guy is always in the mix! Can't putt, in the mix. Coming off a hand injury, in the mix. Unjustly arrested, in the mix. He's just so consistent, it's crazy.

Okay, enough of the Scheffler talk, we'll get plenty of that next month when the playoffs start.

As for this week, it's back to the grind in my back yard of Blaine, Minnesota. It's time for the bombers to come out and the scores to go low. We've got a lot of course history in play, so we should be able to find some good plays this week.

For up-to-the-minute updates on injuries, tournament participation and overall golfer performance, head to RotoWire's latest golf news or follow @RotoWireGolf on X.

LAST YEAR

Jhonattan Vegas shot a final round 70 on his way to a one-stroke victory over Max Greyserman.

FAVORITES

All odds via FanDuel Sportsbook as of 6:00 PM ET Tuesday.

Sam Burns (18-1) 

As you can tell already, it's not the strongest field this week, but we do have some strong players. Burns has played fairly well here over the years, with two top-15s in three starts. Burns' form prior to heading overseas was pretty solid, with five consecutive top-20s, including two top-10s. Perhaps a return to American-style golf will get Burns back on track. He's the favorite, but he's also getting some decent odds.

Chris Gotterup (18-1)

The second hottest golfer on the planet right now returns to the states to see if his game will translate. It's not entirely uncommon to see golfers from the states have more success overseas than in the states, but it's pretty rare. This will truly be the challenge for Gotterup though. It's one thing to remain hot after a win while playing on a course that's similar to the one you won on, it's another to keep that streak going on a course that's nothing like the ones you've had success on the past couple weeks. I'm hesitant to fade him after what he did at Portrush, but if I'm being honest, I'll be surprised if he's in contention again this week.   

Maverick McNealy (20-1)

A little surprising to see McNealy in the third spot this week as there seems to be a couple other options I might put here, but he is having a solid season and there isn't a lot of resistance at the top of the field this week. Perhaps what's pushing his odds this week is his 3rd-place finish here a year ago. That and like Burns, he was playing pretty well in the states before he went overseas. McNealy though played pretty well across the pond, scoring two top-25s.

Visit our golf betting section for the latest PGA odds and finishing props from multiple sportsbooks.

THE NEXT TIER

Jake Knapp (28-1)

Knapp hits the ball long off the tee, but he's not very accurate, but that probably won't hurt him as much this week as it might at most PGA Tour stops. Knapp has shown a tendency to run very hot and cold, even within events this season, so if he gets it going early this week, he could have a chance at win number two on the PGA Tour. He played here last year but had to WD after a terrible round on Saturday. Prior to that round, he was getting around the course fairly well.

Taylor Pendrith (33-1)

This is always a tricky spot in the schedule because you're not sure how much to put into recent results overseas. If a golfer plays poorly on the links courses, can you just flush those results? If they play well, does it matter? I lean towards not putting too much into recent results on an entirely different style of course, but if I golfer played well, I'm not going to totally discount it. Pendrith is having a mice season overall and he did make the cut in both events overseas so take that for what it's worth. I like him this week because he carded a top-5 here in 2024 and he's been pretty solid since May.                        

Tony Finau (40-1)           

For some reason, Finau likes to play here, hey I can't blame him, it's a lovely state, but he's easily the highest-profile golfer that's been here each and every year since this event started in 2019. Finau has not had a great year, and I was very wary of his prospects at Portrush, but he proved me wrong by making the cut and hanging in there until Saturday. Sunday was a different story, but hey, I didn't think he'd make the weekend, so he over performed in my book. As for this week, he won this event in 2022, and he's never finished outside of the top-30 in six starts here.  

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LONG SHOTS

Jhonattan Vegas (75-1)             

Believe it or not, Vegas may just post a career high in earnings this season if he finishes strong and this is a guy that's won four times on the PGA Tour. Vegas earned the bulk of his money this season during a two-week stretch where he finished T13 at the Nelson and T5 at the PGA Championship. His play hasn't been great since, but he's returning to an event where he's had a lot of success. He won this event a year ago and finished runner-up in 2021.

Matti Schmid (80-1)     

This is somewhat of a "gut" pick as there isn't a lot going on here with Schmid, but there are a couple things that I like about his game. The first is his track record here, which is pretty good all things considered. He doesn't have any high-end finishes, but he's cracked the top-20 in both of his starts here, and considering he's in the midst of his best season on the PGA Tour, there's reason to think he could improve upon his T12 from 2024. Second, he hasn't shown much consistency this season, but when he's on, he's on. He carded a runner-up at the Schwab in May, which was his fourth top-10 of the season.        

ONE-AND-DONE LEAGUES

Highly-Chosen Pick: Tony Finau – It's that time of year when I'm not sure who is still available in most leagues, so I'm forced to make a guess. In this case, Finau has been off for most of the season, so I have to imagine that he's still available on a lot of OAD teams. He's not at his peak right now, but I have a feeling that returning to this course is going to do wonders for his game. For whatever reason, he always comes back to this event, so he must like the course.     

Moderately-Chosen Pick: Taylor Pendrith – This is where it gets tough because there are a lot of guys in the Pendrith range and it's just a matter of which one you think is going to break through this week. Pendrith looks to be a good option and unlike some of the guys around him on the odds chart, he's shown the ability to get around this course efficiently.                          

Lightly-Chosen Pick: Jhonattan Vegas– If you're looking for a longshot this week, that means that you're in desperation mode and who better to take than a proven winner on the PGA Tour that's actually won this event? Vegas has never been consistent, but he's shown an ability to pop every now and then and if he gets it going this week, he's a threat to win once again.     

Buyer Beware: Wyndham Clark – I've seen some steam behind Clark this week and I'm not saying he'll crash and burn, or crash and smash (the locker room), but I'm not sure this is the best spot for him. He did finish T5 in his first start here in 2019, but since then he's struggled to find his rhythm at this event. Since 2019 he's missed two cuts and finished T38. He chose to skip this event the past two years, which would indicate to me that he's not all that comfortable on this course.   

My Pick: Tony Finau – Finau should be a popular play this week, but there's a chance that his ownership might be low given the fact that he hasn't played his best golf this season and his odds are in longshot range. Finau however plays very well on this course and seems to love it here as he's teed it up at the 3M every year since its inception in 2019. Finau won this event in 2022 and has never finished outside the top-30 here. His form isn't great, but that should change once he gets back on this course. 

Previous Results

View the PGA earnings report to find total winnings and winnings per entry via our fantasy golf stats pages.

FANDUEL PICKS

Upper Range: Tony Finau ($11,100)
Middle Range: Jhonattan Vegas ($9,300)
Lower Range: Brice Garnett ($7,900)

SURVIVOR LEAGUES

My Pick: Tony Finau – Taking a bit of a risk on a guy that isn't playing his best golf right now, but did I mention that he's never finished outside the top-30 in six starts here? This course is wide-open for the most part, which must provide some comfort for Finau. Once he gets back on these large fairways, he's going to relax and play much better than he has for most of this season.