Weekly Recap: Finau Finds Another Win

At the start of Sunday's final round of the 3M Classic, it was hard to envision it being Tony Finau's day. Oh, he was high on the leaderboard, all right. It's just that he was five shots behind surging Scott Piercy. And not much changed over the front nine, with Finau picking up just a single shot.

It was then that Finau started to string together some birdies. More importantly, Piercy flat-out collapsed. There's no other way to say it. He shot a 41 on the back, highlighted -- lowlighted? -- by a triple-bogey on No. 14, clearing the way for Finau to coast to his third career win. It was by three strokes over Emiliano Grillo and Sungjae Im, with Piercy setting for a three-way tie for fourth.

Not many top guys made the trek from St. Andrews to Minnesota, certainly not with the FedEx Cup Playoffs looming in a few weeks. Finau and Im were two of only three top-25 golfers entered and, after Hideki Matsuyama bowed out with a wrist injury following the first round, Finau was the class of the field. Still, he needed Piercy's help.

Why didn't Finau take the week off, and why is he playing this week in Detroit? He has made no secret that he desperately wants to play on the Presidents Cup team this fall. He moved from 11th to seventh in the standings -- still one slot outside the six automatic qualifiers. It's hard to envision Finau not being on the 12-man U.S. squad -- even as a captain's pick -- now that Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed have left for LIV Golf.

Finau famously went five years without winning until he broke that dry spell in last year's playoffs at the Northern Trust. He then went into a slump but lately had returned to form with runners-up in Mexico and Canada. Those were pretty weak fields, but not as weak as the 3M. As such, with the win, Finau moved up only one spot in the world rankings from 17th to 16th.

He won't be able to defend his Northern Trust title -- the tournament has been eliminated as part of the reconfigured three-event playoffs. 

Presumably we'll see Finau in all three tournaments that take us through the end of August. Three weeks later it'll be the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow.

We'll surely see Finau there, as well.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Scott Piercy
The 43-year-old Piercy shot 65-64-66 in the first three rounds and appeared headed to his first solo Tour victory since 2015. Even after seven holes, he was 2-under on the day. But over the final 11 holes Piercy shot 7-over and wound up with a 76 and a tie for fourth. A two-year exemption for winning would've meant the world to Piercy, who has struggled to keep his card the past couple of years but managed to do so. To that end, the 3M was a success, as Piercy moved from 138th in the standings to 112th and virtually assured himself a spot in the rplayoffs. This was Piercy's first top-10 all season and just his third in three years, which is why it's hard to expect much from him going forward. A terrible missed opportunity for him, and he knows it.

Emiliano Grillo
This runner-up was Grillo's second in three starts, after doing likewise at the John Deere. Both fields were weak, but there have been a bunch of lean years where Grillo wasn't taking advantage of such lesser competition. He's known for his ball striking, but poor putting always makes him a bit of coin flip in DFS play. He ranked 17th in Strokes Gained: Putting on the week. If you can get that out of Grillo, there's a good chance you'll cash something.

James Hahn
Hahn went out early, shot 65 and that was good to tie for fourth. He was 133rd in the point standings but moved to 109th, securing his spot in the playoffs. We shouldn't expect more than a one-and-out from Hahn against the far-stiffer competition of the playoffs, though he does have two more tournaments to enhance his standing. He'll be at Detroit Golf Club this week.

Tom Hoge
Hoge had missed six straight cuts before tying for fourth. Those fields were loaded – two majors, the Memorial and the Scottish Open included – so a bad week here would've been a real red flag for someone ranked in the top-50 in the world. We suspect it was just a bad stretch for Hoge, and he is much closer to the No. 43-ranked golfer than what we had seen the past couple of months. He'll be sitting out the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Greyson Sigg
Sigg has been pushing hard the past few weeks, to the point of reaching 126th in the point standings entering the 3M. He had a great week, tying for seventh to move to 107th place, lock up a playoff spot and keep his card for a second season on Tour.

Danny Willett
Willett made a huge jump toward the top-125 with a tie for seventh, moving from 153rd to 137th. He still has a lot of work to do and will be in the Rocket Mortgage field. He is gifted enough for another top-10, but he's also capable of a bad missed cut.

Callum Tarren
The Englishman has been making a late-season run at the top-125. He was 144th before tying for seventh at the 3M and now stands 126th. Still work to do, but surely doable over the final two weeks of the regular season. He'll be playing in Detroit this week.

J.T. Poston
There was no let-up in Poston after his win at the John Deere to keep his hot streak alive. Yes, he missed the cut at the Open Championship but he came right back with a tie for 11th at the 3M. He's skipping the Rocket Mortgage before probably playing the Wyndham, where as a former winner he'll be a strong DFS consideration.

Robert Streb
Streb began the week at 128th in the point standings, had a great tournament with a tie for 11th and thus has moved to 115th place, where he appears to be safely into the playoffs in three weeks. It would take a big collapse from Streb over the final two weeks plus some very good golf from a lot of guys who haven't played much good golf this season.

Doug Ghim
When Ghim missed the cut at the John Deere a few weeks back, we kind of hammered him, saying a young player looking to make his mark on Tour cannot be missing cuts in terrible fields. Well, we're here to tell you that this time Ghim tied for 16th. Of course, it would've been significantly better if not for two doubles on the back-nine, but for a long time this was looking like just what Ghim needs to do to become relevant on Tour. He did move from 117th to 111th in the point standings, so he is set for the playoffs and next season.

Stewart Cink
Cink began the week at 130th in the pint standings, tied for 24th at the 3M and moved to 122nd in the FedEx. Even if he doesn't stay inside the top-125, he'll keep his card for two more years thanks to his recent victories. Now 49, it will be interesting see what Cink does after turning 50, whether he will continue to play a full schedule on the PGA Tour or play some Champions Tour events. He will turn 50 next May.

Joohyung Kim
The 20-year-old Korean was offered and accepted special temporary membership beginning at the 3M. He tied for 26th, adding to his top-25s at the Byron Nelson and U.S. Open, and his T3 at the Scottish Open. Kim wasn't in the original field for the Rocket Mortgage Classic, but he got in on Sunday night via a sponsor invite. He's now ranked 39th in the world.

Chris Gotterup and Cole Hammer
These were the two biggest names emerging from the college ranks to turn pro this summer. Gotterup has done well, following up his tie for fourth at the Deere with a T31 at the 3M. Meanwhile, Hammer missed the cut for the second time since turning pro (beginning at the Travelers), though he did tie for seventh two weeks ago at a Korn Ferry event.

Rickie Fowler
Fowler missed the playoffs last year and is heading in that direction again, though there is still time for him. Regardless, he'll keep his card. He began the week in 129th place in the FedEx, tied for 38th at the 3M and fell back to 132nd. Fowler will be at the Rocket Mortgage and most likely the Wyndham.

Patton Kizzire
Kizzire began the week 120th in the point standings, tied for 38th at the 3M and remained in 120th place. He's not secure just yet.

Jason Day
The former world No. 1 is fighting to stay inside the top-125. He began the week at No. 122, then tied for 64th at the 3M to fall to 127th . Day will keep his foot on the pedal this week at the Rocket Mortgage and will probably need to play the regular-season finale at the Wyndham in order to make the playoffs. Regardless, he's exempt through 2023-24 thanks to winning THE PLAYERS and the Wells Fargo in 2018.

Sahith Theegala
Theegala has been playing a ton of golf – a lot of it very good but still a lot. This was his 21st start in 2022 alone and, coming off the Open Championship, this was a curious decision to play at TPC Twin Cities. He missed the cut, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing to give him two more days off before getting right back at it at Rocket Mortgage.

Stephan Jaeger
Jaeger began the week at No. 125 in the point standings, but he missed the cut at tumbled all the way to 133rd. He'll be teeing it up this week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic to try to get back inside, but all of a sudden things are dicey for the Korn Ferry grad.

Jeff Overton
The former U.S. Ryder Cup played a PGA Tour event for the first time in five years after battling a life-threatening infection stemming from what was expected to be routine back surgery. The 39-year-old Overton was in on a sponsor invite. He missed the cut, though that hardly matters right now. He'll probably get more invites in the months ahead.

Mardy Fish
The former No. 7-ranked tennis player in the world became the first man to play on both the men's professional tennis and golf tours. Fish shot 81-74 and missed the cut, by a large margin, but he did not finish last! This may have been a one-time chance with a sponsor invite for the 40-year-old Minnesota native, but he acquitted himself nicely.