Finau wins 3M Open by 3 with late surge, Piercy collapse

BLAINE, Minn. (AP) — Tony Finau shot a 4-under 67 to win the 3M Open by three strokes Sunday, erasing a five-stroke deficit with 11 holes left as Scott Piercy tumbled out of the lead down the stretch at windy TPC Twin Cities.

Piercy adopted his tournament-record 54-hole rating with a wince-inducing 76 to tie for fourth, 4 strokes again.

Finau completed at 17-under 267. Sungjae Im (68) and Emiliano Grillo (71) tied for second place. James Hahn surged up the board with a 65 to match Piercy and Tom Hoge (70) at 13 underneath.

Piercy bogeyed 4 of six holes earlier than a triple-bogey implosion on No. 14, permitting Finau — taking part in within the previous trio — to take over for good on his option to his third profession tour victory.

Finau made a 31-foot putt for birdie on the fifteenth inexperienced to strengthen his grip on the lead, because the 6-foot-4 Utah participant calmly and confidently walked the TPC Twin Cities course in his white hat and aqua-striped polo.

The surest signal this was Finau’s day got here on No. 17. His tee shot clanged off the aspect of the grandstand, ricocheted again onto the inexperienced and rolled into the tough — just some toes from the water. He landed the proper chip inside a foot of the opening to make the par 3, then smiled barely as he playfully clamped his hand on his chest as if to fake the sequence gave him coronary heart bother.

On the daunting par-5 18th, Finau discovered the water off the tee to face one last problem. After the penalty stroke, his restoration photographs had been spot on. With Piercy trying on from the green, Finau made a 3-footer for bogey to seal it. He pumped his fist a number of instances, took off his cap and walked off to embrace his household.

Finau, who tied for third on the 3M Open in 2020, jumped from thirtieth to seventeenth within the FedEx Cup race. He entered the week ranked seventeenth on the planet.

Piercy shared the first-round lead with Im on Thursday after a 65 and pulled away from the pack Friday with a 64 to take a three-shot edge into the weekend.

The 43-year-old from Las Vegas, who nonetheless makes his native metropolis his dwelling base, stretched his result in 4 strokes after enduring the 6 1/2-hour delay Saturday to let the rain and lightning play via. His foot bothered him a lot he began taking his proper shoe off after every swing and strolling in his sock to the the subsequent lie.

That was nothing in comparison with the grind he discovered himself in Sunday. He was at 20-under after six holes. Lower than an hour later, Piercy was in bother. After posting solely three bogeys on his first 61 holes, he went over par on seven of his final 11. That included the 7 he turned in on No. 14.

Piercy’s tee shot landed within the fairway bunker, and his sand wedge didn’t get him out of the sand. With a dangerous, last-ditch strategy to get again on observe, his subsequent strive from the bunker splashed within the water quick and left of the inexperienced — as a substitute of a safer play to the precise. After the drop, Piercy hit into the tough. Then his subsequent try stopped 3 inches wanting the cup.

Grillo, the Argentine who tied for second on the John Deere Traditional three weeks in the past, additionally had a triple bogey that loomed massive ultimately, a 7 on No. 7.

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