Scott Piercy gets on roll for 62 and lead
BLAINE, Minn. — Scott Piercy made one birdie in his first seven holes Thursday at TPC Twin Cities.
Then he went on a binge. Piercy birdied eight of his final 11 holes for a 9-under-par 62 and a two-shot lead after the first round of the PGA Tour’s inaugural 3M Open.
“I was thinking a 4-, 5-under day would be nice,” the 40-yearold Las Vegas native said. “You always get one or two guys that kind of go really low, and I just happened to be that guy.”
Canada’s Adam Hadwin and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama were tied for second, a shot ahead of five golfers: Arjun Atwal, Brian Harman, Sungjae Im, Patton Kizzire and Sam Saunders.
All four Baylor School graduates on the PGA Tour are in the tournament, and three of them — Harris English, Stephan Jaeger and Keith Mitchell — opened with a 69 and were among those tied for 49th.
English had an eagle on the par-5 12th, two birdies plus a double bogey on the par-4 ninth, his closing hole. Jaeger, who also started on No. 10, had four birdies to offset a pair of bogeys, with one of those on the ninth. Mitchell had five birdies and two bogeys.
Luke List, the other former Red Raiders standout in the field, was tied for 119th after a 73 that included four birdies, two bogeys and two doubles — one on the par-4 third hole and the other on the par-5 18th.
Piercy is seeking the fifth win of his PGA Tour career and first since the 2018 Zurich Classic. His run of birdies included a nearly 30-foot putt on No. 16 to get to 8 under. He needed just 25 strokes on the greens.
Piercy struggled late at the U.S. Open three weeks ago, including a final-round 77 as he finished 52nd, but some rest and a tweak to how his driver is weighted produced a satisfying result.
“I put in a few hours Friday, Saturday just to kind of get the rust off,” he said.
He hit 13 of 14 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in a round that was interrupted early by a 36-minute weather delay, and showers fell briefly a couple of times during the rest of his round. The wind also picked up at times in the afternoon.
Hadwin and Matsuyama found success on the soft greens while playing in the calm morning.
The 3M Open is the first regular tour event in Minnesota since 1969; however, the U.S. Open and PGA Championship have each twice been contested at Hazeltine National Golf Club, also near Minneapolis. The 2016 Ryder Cup was also played there and is to return in 2028.
This tournament replaces a PGA Tour Champions event held in the Land of 10,000 Lakes for 26 years.
Harrington leads Irish
LAHINCH, Ireland — Dublin native Padraig Harrington opened with a 7-under 63 to take a one-shot lead over South Africa’s Zander Lombard in the Irish Open.
With third-ranked Rory McIlroy skipping the tournament as he prepares for the British Open, set for July 18-21 at Royal Portrush Golf Club in his native Northern Ireland, the 47-yearold Harrington quickly became a crowd favorite in his national open, which he previously won in 2007.
Harrington, making just his eighth start worldwide this year because of a wrist injury, made eight birdies and a bogey at Lahinch Golf Club, an Alister Mackenzie-designed links course on Ireland’s western coast. He closed out his round by blasting from a deep greenside bunker to four feet from the hole for a birdie on the par-5 18th.
A three-time major champion, Harrington has 31 professional victories worldwide in his career, including 15 on the European Tour, but he hasn’t won since the Portugal Masters in 2016.
Lombard closed with three straight birdies and was a shot ahead of Mike Lorenzo-Vera, Thorbjorn Olesen, Wade Ormsby, Chris Paisley, Hyowon Park, Eddie Pepperell and Lee Slattery.
The top three finishers inside the top 10 who have not already qualified for the British Open will earn spots in the field for the year’s final major.
Liu goes low again
ONEIDA, Wis. — One year after Yu Liu shot her lowest round on the LPGA Tour at Thornberry Creek of Oneida, the 23-year-old Chinese golfer tied the course record with a 10-under 62 for a one-shot lead in the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.
“I really like the golf course, apparently,” Liu said. “So it’s just nice to be out here. Just great vibes.”
It was nice for just about everyone on a rain-softened track where nearly half of the 140-player field shot in the 60s.
Liu had a one-shot lead over South Korea’s Jeongeun Lee and the United States’ Yealimi Noh, who only got into the tournament through Monday qualifying.
Seven golfers were tied at 64, and a crowd of the same number a stroke back in 11th included Sung Hyun Park, who won the NW Arkansas Championship last Sunday to return to No. 1 in the women’s world rankings.
Liu started on No. 10 and shot a 30 on the back nine, including an eagle on the par-5 13th hole.