Thompson, Werenski share lead at 3M Open
Michael Thompson carded a 5-under-par 66 on Friday to vault into a share of first place at the midpoint of the 3M Open in Blaine, Minn.
Thompson followed his 7-under 64 on Thursday with another sterling performance at TPC Twin Cities to pull even with first-round leader Richy Werenski at 12-under 130.
Werenski followed up his opening round 63 with a 67 on Friday.
Talor Gooch’s bogey-free 65 left him at 11-under, tied for third place with Tony Finau, whose 66 on Friday included an eagle on an 81-foot chip shot.
Chia’s Xinjun Zhang holds sole possession of fifth place at 10-under after a 67.
Defending champion Matthew Wolff produced a bogey-free 68 that left him tied for sixth place at 9-under. Wolff is level with Australia’s Cameron Davis (second round 66).
Bo Van Pelt, Patrick Rodgers and South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel all shot 68 on Friday, leaving them tied with Nick Watney (69) at 8-under.
Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., was the lone Canadian to make the cut. He sits at 2-under after a 68 on Friday.
Thompson, 35, reeled off three consecutive birdies beginning at the fourth hole and finished with six against one bogey, which came on the par-5 12th hole.
“The big thing is just try not to overpower the golf course,” Thompson said after hitting 14 of 18 greens. “Stay within myself, make good, comfortable swings, aggressive swings to good targets, be aggressive to pins when I can, when I have good numbers, and then if I’m kind of in between, then I kind of play away from the hole a little bit.”
Thompson, whose lone PGA Tour win came at the 2013 Honda Classic, entered the 3M Open ranked 151st in the Fedex Cup standings. He needs to climb into the top 125 to qualify for the playoffs, which begin next month.
“I don’t want to be in a position where I’m having to play anytime I can. I want to be able to pick and choose my schedule,” he said. “So these next three tournaments for me are going to be really important to take advantage of my good play.”
Werenski, 28, is looking for the first win of his PGA Tour career. He made the turn at 3-under par for the day, took his lone bogey at No. 3, then birdied two of the last three holes.
“I hit some really good shots to save par and that was kind of what kept the round going,” said Werenski, who sank a 32-foot birdie putt at No. 11 and a 21-foot birdie putt on No. 18. “Didn’t hit the irons as good as yesterday, but good enough and just kind of gave myself some opportunities and took advantage of it when I could.”
Werenski entered the week rated 248th in the world golf rankings. He finished 126th in the Fedex Cup standings last year, missing the playoffs by less than two points.
NOTES: The best score of the day was 7-under 64, produced by Scott Stallings (tied for 12th at 7 under) and Brian Harman (tied for 51st at 2-under) ... Brooks Koepka, the top-ranked player in the field at No. 6 in the world, missed the cut by one stroke. He shot an even-par 71 on Friday to end up at 1-under 141. Also failing to reach the weekend with scores of 141 were Ricky Fowler and Bubba Watson ... England’s Tommy Fleetwood, the world’s 12th-ranked player, missed the cut after rounds of 71-72.