Golf Glance: Dustin Johnson seeks to end drought at 3M Open
Dustin Johnson lost his No. 1 ranking to Jon Rahm this week and seeks his first victory since the Masters in November.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: The Open Championship (Collin Morikawa)
THIS WEEK: 3M Open, Blaine, Minn., July 22-25
Course: TPC Twin Cities (Par 71, 7,431 yards)
Purse: $6.6M (Winner: $1.188)
Defending Champion: Michael Thompson
FedEx Cup leader: Patrick Cantlay
HOW TO WATCH
TV: Thursday-Friday, 2:30-6:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (CBS).
PGA Tour Live: Thursday-Friday 7:45 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (Featured Groups); Saturday-Sunday, 7:45 a.m.-3 p.m. (Featured Groups), 3-6 p.m. (Featured Holes).
NOTES: Dustin Johnson lost his No. 1 ranking to Jon Rahm this week and seeks his first victory since the Masters in November. … Other notable names in the field include former major champions Charl Schwartzel, Jason Dufner, Gary Woodland, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia and Lucas Glover. … Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker is in the field rather than playing in the Senior Open Championship. … Sponsors exemptions include college stars Quade Cummins, Ryan Hall, John Pak and Angus Flanagan. … The event is planning to allow full fan capacity. … TPC Twin Cities was originally designed by Arnold Palmer, with Minnesota native Tom Lehman serving as a player consultant.
BEST BETS: Johnson (+700 at DraftKings) has only two top-10s in 2021 but is coming off a T8 at The Open despite a 73 on Saturday. … Louis Oosthuizen (+1100) is still seeking his first win on U.S. soil and coming off a third straight disappointing major finish. He is making his event debut and has four top-10s in his past six starts. … Tony Finau (+1400) broke out of a minor slump with a T15 at The Open and tied for third here last year. … Robert MacIntyre (+2800) posted the best weekend score at The Open by two shots. … Matthew Wolff (+3000) chose not to play at The Open, but won the inaugural 3M Open in 2019 and tied for 12th last year. … Hank Lebioda (+5000) offers longshot odds as he enters with a streak of three consecutive top-10s.
Featured groups at this week's @3MOpen:
⛳️ Dustin Johnson
⛳️ Louis Oosthuizen
⛳️ Bubba Watson🏌 Sergio Garcia
🏌 Rickie Fowler
🏌 Tony Finau⛳️ Patrick Reed
⛳️ Michael Thompson
⛳️ Matthew Wolff🏌 Stewart Cink
🏌 Cam Davis
🏌 Dylan Frittelli pic.twitter.com/wVhHsPs2yi— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 20, 2021
NEXT TOURNAMENT: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Memphis, Tenn., Aug. 5-8
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational (Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn)
THIS WEEK: Evian Championship, Evian-les-Bains, France, July 22-25
Course: Evian Resort Golf Club (Par 71, 6,523 yards)
Purse: $4.5M (Winner: $675,000)
Defending Champion: Jin Young Ko (2019)
Race to the CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda
HOW TO WATCH
TV: Thursday-Friday, 5-7 a.m., 9:30-11:30 a.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 5:30-8:30 a.m. (Golf Channel), 8:30-11 a.m. (CNBC)
Streaming: Thursday-Friday, 7-8 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-12 p.m. (all times NBCSports app and NBCSports.com)
NOTES: The event returns after being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. … The 126-player field includes the top three players in the Rolex Rankings: Nelly Korda, Ko and Inbee Park, along with 15 of 16 winners on tour in 2021. … Ko’s victory in 2019 propelled her to No. 1 in the world, a position she held until Korda claimed it with her win at the Women’s PGA Championship earlier this month. … This is the first in a stretch of four LPGA Tour events to be held across Europe, with a one-week break for the Olympics in Japan. … The Evian Championship became the tour’s fifth major in 2013.
NEXT WEEK: ISPS Handa World Invitational, Galgorm, Northern Ireland
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: U.S. Senior Open Championship (Jim Furyk)
THIS WEEK: The Senior Open Championship, Berkshire, England, July 22-25
Course: Sunningdale GC, Old Course (Par 70, 6,618 yards)
Purse: $2.5M (Winner: $314,330)
Defending Champion: Bernhard Langer (2019)
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Jerry Kelly
HOW TO WATCH: TBA
NOTES: Sunningdale was designed by Willie Park Jr. and opened in 1900. … This is the final major of the Champions season and returns after being canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. … Langer has won four Senior Open Championships (2010, 2014, 2017, 2019) and is a three-time runner-up. He hasn’t finished outside of the top 10 in the event since 2011. … Marco Dawson won the last time the event was held at Sunningdale in 2015.
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Shaw Charity Classic, Calgary, Aug. 13-15