Tringale Moves To Top of Crowded 3M Open Leaderboard

July 24, 2021 | 5 min.

 
By Nick Hunter
nick@mngolf.org
 
 
  BLAINE, Minn. – A 5-under 66 Saturday moved Cameron Tringale one step closer to the first win of his PGA Tour career as he holds a one-stroke lead over Gary Woodland and Maverick McNealy at the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities.
 
For the second time in his career, Tringale will enter Sunday’s final round as the 54-hole leader, which hasn’t necessarily been a good omen on the PGA Tour this season.  Over the last 12 championships, only Phil Mickelson has gone on to win after leading a tournament through three rounds, becoming the oldest major champion with his win at the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in May.
 
“I got off to a nice start, birdied the first two. Then played solid through the middle of the round, hit a couple bad iron shots and had to scramble kind of mid round and really just putted well all day,” Tringale said Saturday. “I drove it pretty well and gave myself some looks that I capitalized on. I really just saved my tail quite a few times with the putter.”
 
Tringale enters the week with a pair of third-place finishes and four top-10s to sit 39th in the FedEx Cup Rankings. He fired a 66 during the final round at last year’s 3M Open to place third.
 
“I am in a great position. I don't have stress for my card, I just feel like I have tons of upside tomorrow and I'm excited to kind of play with that freedom.”
 
Getting off to a quick start Saturday, Tringale rolled in back-to-back birdie chances at the first and second holes to reach 9-under for the championship.
 
From 263 yards at the par-5 12th, Tringale’s second rolled to within four feet of the hole and he converted his eagle putt to jump to 11-under. Missing the green left with his tee shot at the short par-4 16th, Tringale pitched to inside of two feet for a tap-in birdie and a round of 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead.
 
“What I want to do better tomorrow is hit my spots on the greens a little better, my approaches,” the former Georgia Tech golfer said Saturday. “But, I mean, I'm putting—I don't know where I'm at statistically, but I've liked just about every putt I've hit. Hopefully, I'll continue to do that tomorrow. Just try not to overthink it; that's the key, isn't it?
 
Woodland, whose last win came at the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, carded five birdies over his first seven holes Saturday, helping him to post a 4-under 67 and climb into a share of second with McNealy at 11-under.
 
“The putter's felt as good as it has in a long time. Seeing putts go in has been huge, but I'm also starting to hit the golf ball well, I'm starting to control my irons, drive the golf ball semi in play the last couple days,” the 37-year-old Woodland said Saturday. “But I'm feeling pretty good about my game compared to where I've been the last year and a half. I've got a long way to go, but when I trust what I'm doing, I'm pretty good.”
 
Turning in 3-under Saturday, Woodland was only able to muster one birdie over his final 11 holes as the winds picked up in the afternoon.
 
“There's still some birdie holes out there,” he said. “The wind's supposed to come out of a similar direction it did today. It's definitely been picking up in the afternoons yesterday and today, but the greens are so good, there's definitely holes you're hitting irons off tees and you've got wedges in your hands.
 
“There's so many guys that are so good out here doing that. So, there's going to be birdies tomorrow, you're still going to have to go low. You're just going to have to play a good round in the wind.”
 
Woodland currently sits 127th in the FedEx Cup Rankings with a pair of top-10 finishes this season. His best finish in 2021 came at the Wells Fargo Championship, where he finished fifth as he now looks for his fifth win on Tour Sunday.
 
A pair of birdies during his back nine Saturday helped McNealy to a bogey-free 68 as he will begin Sunday’s final round also looking for his first win on the PGA Tour in 23 starts.
 
The 25-year-old product of Stanford University placed second at the AT&T Pro-Am back in February, and added a second top-5 finish at the RBC Heritage in April. Over his last four starts, McNealy has finished no worse than 30th.
 
“I felt really good about my game for a while. I've been driving it awesome, especially the last month and a half,” McNealy said. “I think that's a combination of working with Butch Harmon, he's got me swinging it great; my trainer back in Vegas, Jimmy Greathouse, body's healthy and stronger than I've ever been. I just feel great. Since I put this Epic Speed driver in January, I feel like I can swing as hard as I can and it's not going to go offline.
 
“I really wanted to play in that final group, that would have been a lot of fun, but I've got a chance to win. I've learned every single time I've been in the mix on the back nine Sunday. Picked up a few things here and there, AT&T, Hilton Head and Colonial, and I'm excited to put those things into practice tomorrow when the heat's on. I'm sure I'll learn something else, but we'll see if I can execute on those.”
 
A total of eight players will begin the final round in a tie for fourth place at 10-under on a crowded leaderboard, in which the top 15 players are separated by only three shots.
 
The 2021 3M Open concludes Sunday, with final-round tee times beginning at 6:55 a.m. at TPC Twin Cities.
 
 
 
THE 2021 3M OPEN
TPC TWIN CITIES
BLAINE, MINN.
7,431 YARDS, PAR 71
 
 
SATURDAY’S THIRD ROUND RESULTS
1. Cameron Tringale, 67-68-66—201
T2. Gary Woodland, 69-66-67—202
T2. Maverick McNealy, 67-67-68—202
T4. Pat Perez, 72-65-66—203
T4. Cameron Champ, 69-67-67—203
T4. Jimmy Walker, 68-67-68—203
T4. Charl Schwartzel, 67-68-68—203
T4. Chez Reavie, 66-67-70—203
T4. Jhonattan Vegas, 64-69-70—203
T4. Roger Sloan, 64-69-70—203
T4. Ryan Armour, 67-65-71—203
 
 
For complete tournament results go to: www.pgatour.com/competition/2021/3m-open/leaderboard.html
 
 
 

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