Attention in golf now turns away from the Majors towards the fight of FedEx Cup points and Ryder Cup places and Dustin Johnson is 13/2 favourite for the 3M Open in Minnesota this week.
Johnson was eighth at The Open at Royal St Georges last week while his chief market rival Louis Ooosthuizen, who can be backed at 14/1 this week, came even closer to winning the Claret Jug, falling three shots behind winner Collin Morikawa in third.
Featured groups at this week's @3MOpen:
Dustin Johnson
Sergio Garcia
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 20, 2021
Serial competitor Tony Finau, who has posted ten second-placed finishes since his only PGA Tour success to date at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, is also 14/1 at TPC Twin Cities after finishing 15th last week.
But there are plenty of challengers towards the bottom of the market who will be desperate for a big week to secure their PGA Tour cards for next year, so there is still plenty to play for.
Grillo Should Be Comfortable at Twin Cities
One player’s performance at Royal St George’s slipped under the radar and Emiliano Grillo, who can be backed at 35/1, could be set for an excellent week.
The Argentinian finished 12th on the Kent links and that showing included a Friday round of 64 that was not bettered all week.
That should have been a huge boost for his confidence as he had gone into the final Major of the year having missed the cut in his three previous tournaments.
Before that though, he had finished eighth at the Charles Schwab Challenge and he was second at the RBC Heritage in April at a course where, like this one, solid ball-striking and decent putting is generally a recipe for success.
Grillo was one of seven players who finished tied for third at last year’s tournament, three shots behind winner Michael Thompson and he looks a lively challenger as he searches for his first PGA Tour victory since the 2015 Frys.com Open.
List Is Knocking On the Door
There was still Stateside action last week despite the game’s elite battling it out on the other side of the Atlantic and Luke List, who is 50/1 to win this week, was demonstrating that he could be a tournament winner in waiting.
List was in the thick of the battle at the Barbasol Championship and will probably think that it was an opportunity that slipped by as a closing 71 meant he fell two-shots short of joining winner Seamus Power and JT Poston in a playoff.
That showing came a week after he was fourth at the John Deere Classic in a performance that included a second-round 63.
He also shot consecutive rounds of 67 over the weekend in this tournament last year on his way to finishing 32nd so he can make a bold bid in Minnesota.
Vegas Can Hit the Jackpot
Jhonattan Vegas, who is available at 60/1, was unfortunate not to win the Puerto Rico Open earlier in the year and the solid driver could be a factor despite missing the cut last year.
In the last two months he has finished ninth at the Byron Nelson, fell one-shot short at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree and was 11th last time at the John Deere Classic when he fell away on Sunday when he was right in the mix.
That sort of form should stand him in good stead this week.
*All odds correct at time of writing