Sergio can win in Minn.
The PGA Tour returns to action this week at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minn. Dustin Johnson (15/2) finished T-8 at The Open last weekend and is the favorite this week. He will be making his second appearance in this event. He shot 78 in the first round last year before withdrawing in the second round. Louis Oosthuizen (14/1), Tony Finau (14/1) and Patrick Reed (18/1) are the other headliners.
Here are some longer shots from 30/1 to 300/1 who can win:
Sergio Garcia (30/1): After four straight missed cuts, Garcia has posted four straight top-20 finishes. He rates in the top 10 in this week’s field for SG: Off-The-Tee, SG: Approach, GIR Gained, and Birdie or Better. Putting has always been an uphill battle with Garcia, but he’s losing only -0.3 SG: Putting over his last five starts and did gain on tough greens at the U.S. Open last month.
Bubba Watson (30/1): Missed the British Open last week due to COVID-19 contact tracing, but that could potentially be a blessing as most of this field was playing either The Open or the Barbasol last weekend. After blowing a back-nine lead on Sunday at the Travelers, Watson rebounded with a T-6 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. His 131 on the weekend tied for best in the field that week. Ranked 56th in the world, Bubba needs a big week to climb back into the top 50 and get into the WGC: FedEx St. Jude Invitational in two weeks.
Doug Ghim (40/1): Was 18th on debut here last summer. He ranked second on SG: Approach and 6th for SG: TeeTo-Green in his last start two weeks ago at the John Deere Classic. The putter can be shaky, but he has gained on the greens in two of his last three starts.
Jhonattan Vegas (50/1): Has three top-11 finishes dating back to the Byron Nelson. The Venezuelan leads this week’s field for both SG: Off-The-Tee and GIR Gained. He has also gained at least +2.1 SG: Approach on four of his past five starts. Putting is the weak part of his game, but he did gain +3.2 SG: Putting two weeks ago on the Bentgrass at TPC Deere Run.
Mito Pereira (80/1): The 26-year-old from Chile has had three starts on the PGA Tour and has improved each time out: missed cut by two at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, followed by 34th at the John Deere Classic and an excellent fifth-place finish in the Barbasol last week, in which he ranked fourth for SG: Tee-To-Green and second for SG: OffThe-Tee.
Bo Hoag (80/1): Finished 12th here last year in his lone appearance. He has made six of his last seven cuts including a 13th at the Memorial and an 11th last week at the Barbasol. Hoag currently sits in the last spot to get into the FedEx Cup Playoffs at No. 125 despite not having a top-10 finish. This looks like a good spot to lock in his status for next year.
Bo Van Pelt (300/1): Sits at No. 152 in the FedEx Cup standings and needs a high finish to regain full PGA Tour status. Van Pelt, 46, missed the better part of four seasons from 2016-19 with various injuries. In 2021, he has shown some life with a runner-up several weeks ago at the Palmetto. He was just T-31 last week at the Barbasol, but ranked sixth in approach play.
Wes Reynolds handicaps golf for Point Spread Weekly, VSiN’s digital magazine for sports bettors.