BLAINE -- In the end, the fat shot that Scott Piercy hit Saturday on the 18th hole at TPC Twin Cities hurt more than his foot.
The 43-year-old PGA Tour veteran began the third round of the 3M Championship with a three-shot lead over Emiliano Grillo. There was a long rain delay in the middle of the round, and Piercy had a blister on the heel of his right foot that was so painful he chose to walk with his shoe off for several holes at the start of the back nine. Nevertheless, he was playing well enough to expand his lead, and by the time he got to the tee at the 18th hole, a 587-yard par 5 with 200 yards of water in front of the green.
Piercy got the first part of the 18th right. He hit his drive into the middle of the fairway, thereby putting himself in a position to go for the green in two. From there, he should have been able to make a birdie, or maybe even an eagle. Instead, on his second shot, his fairway wood (metal?) went into the turf before it got to the ball. A classic fat shot. The result was sight that every amateur golfer is familiar with: a ball traveling slowly through the air -- with absolutely no chance of clearing the water. It splashed down roughly 40 yards short of its intended destination.
That meant a penalty stroke, and another shot over the water, this time with a 5-iron. It ended up just over the green -- in a less than great lie. Piercy ended up making a 9-foot putt for his bogey.
The mini-disaster notwithstanding, Piercy shot a 5-under-par 66, and he has a 54-hole total of 195 (18 under). Grillo made a two-putt birdie at the 18th and signed for a 67, which put him at 199.
So instead of having a six-shot lead going into Sunday's final round, Piercy has a four-shot lead over Grillo.
Piercy has won four times on the PGA Tour, but his last victory, at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, came in 2018. It was a team competition (four-ball and foursomes), and Billy Horschel was his partner. The last time Piercy won a tournament by himself was 2015, at the Barbasol Championship.
For someone who hasn't won in such a long time, a six-stroke head start on Sunday would have been nice. But the valedictory bogey by Piercy on Saturday brought Grillo and the other challengers a couple of shots closer.
The most dangerous of the challengers is probably Tony Finau, who has won twice on the PGA Tour, but he's finished in the top 10 50 times. He's tied with Doug Ghim for third, five behind Piercy at 200, after shooting a 65 that looked really easy. He missed twice from inside of 10 feet on the first three holes, before making three birdies in a row at the par-4 fifth hole, par-5 sixth and par-4 seventh. All three of the birdie putts were under 10 feet.
His three birdies on the back nine were essentially products of his power. He got up and down from a greenside bunker at the 589-yard, par-5 12th, hit his tee shot to within 30 feet of the hole at the drivable (302 yards), par-4 16th, and he hit the green at the 18th in two and got down in two from 50 feet for back-nine 33. It would have been a 32 if he could have made his birdie putt from 5 feet at the par-3 13th.
Ghim was a college star at the University of Texas. He won the Ben Hogan Award (for the college player of the year) in 2018 and was No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings that year. He, like Finau, shot 65 on Saturday. Although he didn't birdie the sixth hole, he did birdie both of the par 5's on the back nine (12 and 18), and he hit his tee shot at the 16th to within a few yards of the green.
Hideki Matsuyama shot 77 on Thursday and withdrew. That left Tom Hoge as the player in the 3M field who is highest on the PGA Tour money list -- No. 19, $3,995,721 in 28 events -- and he's in position to make a lot of money this week. The former two-time Minnesota State Amateur champion is alone in fifth, six strokes out of first at 201.
After making two birdies and one bogey on the front nine, Hoge wasn't in the top 10 on the leader board. A two-putt birdie from 65 feet at the 12th helped, but not that much. At the 13th, his 9-foot birdie putt went halfway down into the hole -- but lipped out. It looked like that kind of day, full of frustration, but Hoge turned it around with birdies on the last three holes.
He finally made a putt -- a 12-footer -- at the 16th. Then came a gorgeous iron shot to 9 feet at the 17th (167 yards, par 3), and he made that one, too. His second shot at 18 found the green, but he was 84 feet away from the cup. Hoge got his first putt to within 3 feet and made the birdie putt for a 66.
As for Piercy and Grillo, it was Grillo who got off to the faster start, with a birdie at the first hole. But Piercy made an 18-foot birdie putt at the par-3 fourth, and had it inside of 10 feet for birdie on each of the next four holes. He made them all -- for five birdies in a row.
Meanwhile, Grillo was holding his own. Piercy was 5 over after seven holes, but Grillo was 4 over. He made a 28-foot birdie putt at the fourth (162 yards, par 3), and for the second day in a row, he eagled the sixth, from 35 feet.
Then the rain came.
The players didn't resume their round for more than six and a half hours. That may have contributed to the way Piercy and Grillo played the ninth hole, but the 488-yard par 4 is the hardest hole on the TPC Twin Cities course, which is another explanation for why they both made bogeys there. Piercy hit his drive into a native area left of the fairway and couldn't get within 100 yards of the green with his second shot.
Grillo had more than 200 yards for his second shot, and yanked it well left of the green. From there, the chip is extremely fast, and Grillo's chip ran well past the cup.
Piercy and Grillo hit wedge shots within a few feet of the hole at the 10th, and they both made bounce-back birdies there.
An errant drive cost Grillo a bogey at the 15th (457 yards, par 4), but he made up for that with his birdie at the 18th. Piercy's only other birdie on the back nine came at the 12th, where he hit the green in two and two-putted from 25 feet.
3M Open
At TPC Twin Cities
Par 71, 7,431 yards
Blaine
Third-round results
1. Scott Piercy 65-64-66-195
2. Emiliano Grillo 67-65-67--199
T3. Tony Finau 67-68-65--200
T3., Doug Ghim 67-68-65--200
5. Tom Hoge 67-68-66--201
T6. Greyson Sigg 70-68-64--202
T6. Sungjae Im 65-70-67--202
T8. Andrew Putnam 71-68-64--203
T8. Jared Wolfe 68-69-66--203
T8. Chesson Hadley 68-69-66--203
T11. J.T. Poston 71-69-64--204
T11. Lee Hodges 70-67-67--204
T13. Callum Tarren 71-63-71--205
T13. Stewart Cink 71-69-65--205
T13. Adam Long 69-69-67--205
T16. James Hahn 69-70-67--206
T16. Danny Willett 72-66-68--206
T16. Brice Garnett 67-71-67--206
T16. Peter Malnati 68-69-69--206
T16. Robert Streb 68-67-71--206
T21. Cameron Percy 72-69-66--207
T21. Wyndham Clark 72-68-67--207
T21. Scott Brown 69-74-64--207
T24. Rick Lamb 71-69-68--208
T41. Cameron Champ 75-68-67--210
T52. Troy Merritt 72-69-70--211
T52. Rickie Fowler 70-72-69--211
T62. Chez Reavie 75-68-69--212
T69. Jason Day 70-72-71--213
Missed cut -- 143
Ryan Moore 71-75--146
Sahith Theeglaa 73-73--146
Andre Metzger 72-76--148
Daniel Gale 74-74--148
Jefff Sorenson 77-74--151
Chris Naegel 77-75--152
Mardy Fish 81-74--155
WD -- Hideki Matsuyama 77-WD
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