Richy Werenski and Michhael Thompson. Pic: Getty Images
BLAINE, Minn, July 26: Two chip-in birdies gave Arjun Atwal the momentum he needed at the start of the third round, but was unable to keep it going at the TPC Twin Cities at the 3M Open. He began with a flourish with three birdies in his first six holes on the back side of the course, but he not only gave away those gains on 18th, first and third, but was also not able to get any more birdies. He ended with an even par 71 and slipped from T-51 to T-62.
Meanwhile, Michael Thompson and Richy Werenski playing together in the third round shot 68 each and will once again play the final round together. The duo is tied at 15 under at the TPC Twin Cities.
Atwal hit 11 of the 18 greens in regulation while finishing even for the day and 2 under for the tournament.
Starting from the 10th, Atwal hit a 300 yard drive on the 593-yard par-5 12th and then of his third chipped to two feet, which he rolled for one-putt birdie.
Atwal missed the green on his first shot on the 228-yard par-3 fourth but had a chip in from 13 yards for birdie getting to 2-under for the round.
On the 451-yard par-4 15th hole, after a drive to the left rough Atwal chipped in his third to get to 3-under for the round. There were no more birdies.
On 18th, he went into water and ended with a bogey and on the 416-yard par-4 first, Atwal got on in two and missed his par putt from 5 feet, finishing with a 3-putt bogey. A third bogey came on the 501-yard par-4 third despite a 306 yard drive. Atwal chipped his third shot to nine feet, from where he two-putted for a third bogey.
Werenski who fell three shots behind Thompson at one stage birdied three of the last four holes on Saturday to erase a four-stroke deficit and catch up Thompson for shared lead. Thompson four-under through 12 including a hat-trick from fifth to seventh dropped a shot on 17th for his 68.
Charl Schwartzel carded 66 in the third round, pulling even with Tony Finau (69) for third place at 13 under, while Max Homa (64) rose well to fifth at 12-under.
A win for either Thompson or Werenski will earn them a spot into next week’s 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and also the top two players (not otherwise exempt) in the top 10 and ties will be invited to the 2020 U.S. Open.
Thompson has made just two bogeys through the first three rounds, best of any player in the field, while Werenski has held at least a share of the lead after each round this week.
Finau, currently tied-third, has a nice record with the most number of most top-eight finishes (24 in all ) of any player without a win on TOUR in the last four seasons.
Defending champion Matthew Wolff, T-13 at 10-under is hoping to become the first player to win his first two PGA TOUR titles at the same event since Daniel Berger won back-to-back in Memphis (2016 and 2017).
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