BLAINE, Minn. – Rolling in his short birdie putt on the 72nd hole Sunday at TPC Twin Cities, Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas claimed a one-stroke victory over Max Greyserman at the 2024 3M Open for the fourth PGA Tour victory of his career.
“It hasn't been easy, that's for sure,” Vegas said following his first victory since 2017. “It's been a lot of grinding, a lot of dealing with injuries, a lot of headaches, but these are the moments that you get up every day and you work hard, you do all the right things because nothing feels better than this.”
A significant week for Vegas, who picks up his first victory in seven seasons to earn fully exempt status through 2026.
Along with claiming 500 FedEx Cup points, Vegas moves from 149th to 66th on the points list to qualify for the playoffs, while taking home a paycheck of more than $1.4 million in the process.
“Sixty-six is still not a secure place going into the playoffs, but in a way, I just gave myself a pretty good chance to move up,” Vegas said Sunday. “You go from—maybe I've got to have a great fall to move up and have a good status for next year—to really preparing to try to have a run at the FedEx Cup.
“That's the beauty of golf, that's the beauty of the PGA Tour. No other tour in the world provides that. Any week can change your life forever, so just thankful the win came this week.”
Carrying a one-stroke lead into the final round Sunday, Vegas’ two birdies during his opening nine were negated by a pair of bogeys to turn at 16-under for the championship.
Falling out of the lead momentarily after failing to get up-and-down for par at the par-3 13th, Vegas countered by rolling in his birdie putt from inside of 10 feet at the 15th to rejoin Greyserman in a share of the lead.
Hitting his second to the front of the 18th, Vegas’ putt from 96 feet stopped three feet from the hole, and he’d roll in a final birdie putt to secure his fourth PGA Tour win.
“This is a special place for me—I got a lot of friends that were here. It's a course that I really connected extremely well three years ago when I came in second here, so I knew it was a golf course that I had a great chance of playing well,” Vegas said. “Obviously expectations were not trying to win, we're just trying to have a great week and obviously a great week turned into a win.”
A Tour rookie in 2011, Vegas claimed his first victory at the Bob Hope Classic the same year. He’d win five years later at the RBC Canadian Open, and successfully defended his title in 2017.
Sunday’s finish marks the fifth top-25 for the 39-year-old this season.
Thanks to a final-round 8-under 63 Sunday, the 29-year-old Greyserman earns the second top-5 finish of his career this week, following his fourth-place finish at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April.
“I felt like I had been playing well the last couple months after working with my coach on a few things,” Greyserman said following his final round. “Last week, for example, I went into the final round fourth place and had a bad Sunday, so I decided today was going to be my day. Started a little slow, but just had to stay patient like I always do, and the putts started dropping on the back nine.
“I think I just locked up my spot in the first playoff event, so that's big because that's another huge point opportunity and hopefully continue to play my way up.”
Entering the final round eight shots back of the lead, Greyserman carded just two birdies during his opening nine to move to 10-under for the tournament.
A string of three consecutive birdies to begin his final nine holes put the former Duke University golfer quickly into contention at 13-under.
After sinking his birdie chance from 18 feet at the 14th, Greyserman followed it by converting his birdie chance at the 15th from inside of 25 feet to reach 15-under.
On the front edge of the 18th in two following a spectacular second from the trees left of the fairway, Greyserman two-putted from 78 feet to claim his best PGA Tour finish in 22 career starts.
Denied his first win since the Sony Open in 2019, Matt Kuchar fired an even par 71 for a third-place finish Sunday to earn a significant boost in the FedEx Cup points race, moving to 111th, but will still need another strong finish at the Wyndham Championship in two weeks to keep his streak of 17 straight seasons of qualifying for the playoffs intact.
“It was a good week looking back on it. It was fun to be out with a chance to win on Sunday,” said the 46-year-old, following the final round of his 555th start on the PGA Tour. “I hadn't had this opportunity in a while and to be in the last group Sunday to have the lead for a moment there was an exciting day.
“Making the playoffs, keeping my job for next year, they're all checkmarks. I normally like to check these off a lot earlier in the year than right now, but tis the bed I made. Certainly helpful. It is on my mind; it is something that I know is kind of back there.”
Maverick McNealy posted a 1-under 70 Sunday to finish tied for third with Kuchar at 15-under 269 for the fifth top-5 finish of his career since earning his Tour card in 2020.
THE SIXTH 3M OPEN
TPC TWIN CITIES
BLAINE, MINN.
7,431 YARDS, PAR 71
SUNDAY’S FINAL RESULTS
1. Jhonattan Vegas, Venezuela, 68-66-63-70—267
2. Max Greyserman, United States, 70-68-67-63—268
T3. Matt Kuchar, United States, 68-67-63-71—269
T3. Maverick McNealy, United States, 70-66-63-70—269
5. Taylor Pendrith, Canada, 66-64-73-67—270
T6. Kurt Kitayama, United States, 66-69-70-66—271
T6. Patrick Fishburn, United States, 71-67-63-70—271
T6. Sahith Theegala, United States, 66-69-66-70—271
T9. J.J. Spaun, United States, 70-68-65-69—272
T9. K.H. Lee, South Korea, 67-69-68-68—272
T9. Matt NeSmith, United States, 68-64-70-70—272
MC. TOM HOGE, FARGO, N.D., 70-71—141
MC. TROY MERRITT, SPRING LAKE PARK, MINN., 72-71—143
MC. BEN WARIAN (a), STILLWATER, Minn., 69-74—143
MC. ERIK VAN ROOYEN, UNIV. OF MINN., 75-74—149
MC. JEFF SORENSON, BLAINE, MINN., 76-74—150
For complete tournament results go to: www.pgatour.com/leaderboard
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