A Second-Round 66 Moves Denmark's Olesen in Front at 3M Open

 BLAINE, Minn. – A week after missing the cut by three strokes at The Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club, 13-year PGA Tour journeyman Thorbjorn Olesen holds the 36-hole lead at the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities, searching for his first victory on Tour.

Olesen tied the tournament record to open the championship Thursday before carding a 5-under 66 during his second round Friday to take a one-stroke advantage to the weekend over American Jake Knapp.

“I take every week as it comes,” the 35-year-old Olesen said after his second round Friday. “Every week is an opportunity to try and bounce back and do something special. You know, I put myself in a bit of a tough position but there's still quite a lot of events left.

“I think both days my iron play has been really, really good. I hit a lot of shots really close to the pin and gave myself a lot of good chances. Today there was like two or three bad drives that cost me, but I still felt pretty good over the ball. I think I hit some good tee shots out there also.”

A native of Denmark with nine international victories on his resume, Olesen began his second round on the 10th tee, playing his first five holes in 1-under before a wayward tee shot led to double-bogey.

Olesen would respond by converting six birdie opportunities over his next 12 holes to move to the top of the leaderboard at 14-under 128.

Entering the week ranked No. 129 in the FedEx Cup Standings, Olesen has a pair of top-5 finishes on the season, with his best performance coming at the Valero Texas Open in April where he finished tied for fifth.

Olesen’s most recent victory came at last season’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship in the United Arab Emirates for his eighth win on the DP World Tour.

Knapp, who claimed the inaugural CRMC Championship at Cragun’s Legacy Courses in Brainerd, Minn., in 2022, fired a 6-under 65 Friday to back up his round of 64 to begin the championship Thursday.

The 31-year-old Californian sits one shot off the lead, fighting for his second win on Tour in just his second season.

“Feel like I'm kind of doing everything pretty good for the most part,” Knapp said Friday. “I haven't made too many putts, but I feel like it's been kind of mistake free for the most part. I haven't really had to scramble too much. It felt pretty easy over the last two days.

“I think there's a few holes where I can take advantage of my length, which is nice, but for the most part, the course kind of tells you where you can and can't go, so it's just a matter of execution.”

Starting the week ranked No. 55 in the FedEx Cup Standings, Knapp is projected to qualify for the playoffs by moving up 18 spots, but still has work to do to reach the top-30 for the Tour Championship.

“Of course, it's in the back of your mind and whatnot, but I'm not thinking about it at all while I'm playing,” Knapp said. “You still like to try and win golf tournaments, we've got a few left to end the season so that's really the only thing I'm thinking about when I'm out there.”

Following his win at the Mexico Open at Vidanta during his rookie season in 2024, Knapp has followed his early success with three top-10 finishes this season, including the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he partnered with Minnesotan Frankie Capan III to finish third.

In 20 events played this season, Knapp has missed just five cuts and has collected more than $2.5 million in earnings.

“I think I've just found kind of my routine and what sort of works for me week in, week out,” he said. “Kind of found like the number of events I like to play in a row, maybe the courses I like to play, but for the most part I play just about everything. I think mainly my weekly routine; I do a good job sticking to that and just getting myself prepared.”

Former University of Texas golfer Pierceson Coody posted a round of 6-under 65 for the second straight day to move up eight spots Friday into a share of third place with Sam Stevens at 12-under 130.

“I feel like my game has gotten better throughout the year,” the 25-year-old Coody said Friday. “I've had a lot of solid finishes, been playing well on the [Korn Ferry Tour] and whatnot, but good golf is good golf. I don't think I was doing much different out there than I did these first two days. I feel like I have a lot to prove out here and I think that I have the game to do it, so excited for the weekend.”

Troy Merritt, a graduate of Spring Lake Park High School, led Minnesotans in the field for a second straight day, shooting back-to-back rounds of 68 to advance to the weekend as he sits tied for 44th at 6-under 136.

The third round of the 2025 3M Open gets underway at 6:25 a.m. Saturday at TPC Twin Cities.