Scott Piercy opened with a nine-under 62 on Thursday at the 3M Open, highlighted by a back-nine 30 that featured six birdies.
“Last couple weeks, the U.S. Open and RBC [Canadian Open], I started off the U.S Open well, but it was kind of smoke and mirrors and a hot putter,” said Piercy, who struggled with his driver at Pebble Beach. “Once we got the driver figured out, the iron swing came back. When I’m playing really well, I hit my irons well, and I think the putter has been working well this year and it continued today.”
Piercy leads the field in total strokes gained, while Adam Hadwin and Hideki Matsuyama are tied for second in that same category. They each fired a seven-under 64 and trail by two.
“This kind of comes down to a bit of a putting contest sometimes,” said Hadwin. “A lot of guys are hitting a lot of greens, and maybe I’m not quite as good a putter as I have been the last couple years, but if it does get rolling I can get streaky. And when that happens I can compete for sure.”
Five players are one behind Hadwin and Matsuyama at six under, including Brian Harman. Tony Finau and Bryson DeChambeau are among the names tied for ninth at five under.
Up-to-the-minute leader board and other scoring information for the 2019 3M Open, July 4-7, 2019, TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Mn.