Moving day at the 3M Open in Minnesota proved to be just that as it was all change at the top on Saturday. Seamus Power remains consistent at Twin Cities GC to sit T23 while matching 63’s from Matt Kuchar and Jhonattan Vegas which saw them leapfrog the young pretenders to sit in the top two spots heading into Sunday’s action.
Power has kept up his solid showing this week as the final day looms with another round of two-under, 69. An opening salvo of one birdie on the par-4 third and eight pars would see the Waterford native turn in one-under. A back-nine with birdies on both par-5s was tarnished by back-to-back dropped shots on the 16th and the par-3 17th. Thankfully these were bookended with a pair of birdies, limiting the damage and seeing the two-time Tour winner sneak in for a total of -7 to sit nine back from Vegas.
The Venezuelan did most of his good work on the back nine on day three with no dropped shots and six birdies in eight holes on his way home, giving him the overnight lead by one on -16 as the 39-year-old sits in pole position to claim his first victory since the 2017 RBC Canadian Open.
Asked about his form over the homeward-nine this week, where he has done all of his scoring, Vegas said, “I don’t know, I’ve just been getting lucky on the back nine and hitting some good shots and making some great putts.” He went on to add, “Obviously it’s a tough nine, you have to really hit really quality shots. You have to hit your irons really well on the back nine here, which I’ve been able to do for the past three days. You know, it’s not easy, for sure. Obviously, we’re looking to kind of play the back nine really good this week so hopefully we can do it for another day.”
Matt Kuchar was another on hot form at Twin Cities GC for round three. A double on the par-3 fourth was the spark needed as Kuchar went on to birdie the next four on the bounce. Another great showing on the back nine with three more birdies followed up with an eagle on his final hole of the day saw him surge up the leaderboard and sit one back from Vegas, who he will join for his walk on Sunday. This was a timely intervention as Kuchar entered the week in 153rd spot on the FedEx rankings but is projected to move into the top-70 if he claims the win this week. This would keep up a remarkable run from the American as the only player to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs every year since it’s inception in 2007.
His final hole eagle got the roar of the day from the galleries in Minnesota and Kuchar talked us through his approach into the 18th. “I was looking just to give myself a birdie look and try to hit a good shot,” he said. “It was a risky shot trying to pull off kind of a high spinner from where I was, but it came out perfectly. When I hit it I knew it was going to be good, knew it was going to be at least close to the hole, and for it to go in was a very cool finish. It was awfully exciting to have that many people get so excited when the ball disappeared.”
Two more rounds of 63 were on show from Maverick McNealy and Patrick Fishburn sees them third and fourth on -14 and -12 respectively while Sahith Theegala sits tied for fourth with Fishburn and within striking distance of the lead heading into the final round.
Seamus Power heads out for the final day’s action at 16.00 Irish time with Aaron Baddeley and Kell Kraft looking to keep up his good form and his FedEx Cup Playoff Charge, ahead of the Olympics. The lead three-ball will take to TPC Twin Cities at 17.35 in what could be an exciting back nine shootout.
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