Bryson DeChambeau dominated the second round of the 3M Open, racking up nine birdies to finish Friday at a career-low 62 and vault into the lead with a 14-under par score halfway through the first-time PGA Tour event at the TPC Twin Cities.
The 25-year-old DeChambeau, who entered the week eighth in the world rankings, hit greens in regulation on 17 of 18 holes. He sank four putts from 20-plus feet, including the No. 7 and No. 8 holes during a commanding surge on his second nine.
Adam Hadwin arrived in the clubhouse in second place at 12-under, after five birdies in a steely performance on the back nine amid an on-and-off drizzle during the afternoon. Hadwin, who finished sixth a month ago at the Canadian Open in his native country, shot a 66 to follow up his first-round 64.
Scott Piercy, who opened a two-stroke lead with a 62 in the first round Thursday, started on No. 10 and sputtered through the windless, muggy morning with five bogeys on his first nine to offset an eagle. Piercy still came in at 10-under. He was joined by Sam Burns, Brian Harman and Sam Saunders in a four-way tie for third place.
DeChambeau went bogey-free over the first two days for the first time in his career. His previous best round on the tour, which he joined in 2017, was a 63 he posted three times. The most recent one was at the Sony Open in Hawaii in January, when he finished tied for 10th.
The first high-profile player to commit to this tournament at the Arnold Palmer-designed, 19-year-old course on a former sod farm now flanked by 4,000-square-foot houses about 20 miles north of downtown Minneapolis, DeChambeau has four top-10 finishes this season. That includes the fifth tour victory of his career at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas in November.
After finishing third in the FedEx Cup standings in 2018 , DeChambeau entered the week in 25th place on the strength of his tied-for-eighth finish at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut two weeks ago. He missed the cut in three straight starts this spring, including the PGA Championship.
The 3M Open was attractive to DeChambeau for more than just the potential boost toward a top-10 FedEx Cup finish and the momentum heading into the final major of the year at the British Open in two weeks.
The former physics major at SMU who’s fondly known on tour as the “Mad Scientist” for his exceptional interest in and knowledge of swing mechanics and other intricacies of the sport, DeChambeau eagerly paid a visit this week to 3M world headquarters in Maplewood about 25 miles from the course in Blaine. He checked out some of the innovative projects in the works by the manufacturing giant best known for Post-It notes.
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