Scott Piercy’s blister, Emiliano Grillo’s success on sixth hole among five takeaways from third round of 3M Open

Scott Piercy has a blister on his right foot, but it didn’t stop him from stretching his lead at the 3M Open to four strokes.

Piercy, who led by three at the start of the day, blistered the field with five straight birdies beginning at No. 3, and carded a 5-under 66 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota, to build his lead over Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo.

Piercy began taking his shoe off between shots beginning at No. 9 and continued to do so for several holes.

“And people say golf isn’t a sport,” Max Homa tweeted of Piercy dealing with his blister. “Check mate haters!”

The 43-year-old Piercy held a commanding six-stroke lead until he made his lone blunder of the day at the last. From 248 yards, Piercy fatted his second shot at the par-5 18^th into the lake fronting the green, but he recovered to salvage a bogey. It was still good enough to set the 3M Open 54-hole tournament record (18-under 195) as he seeks a fifth career PGA Tour title and first individual title since the 2015 Barbasol Championship.

It was a long day that began bright and early to try to beat forecasted storms. The weatherman was right and play was suspended at 10:57 a.m. Six hours and 38 minutes later, play resumed.

“It was a weird round, I feel like two rounds,” Tony Finau said. “You know, played the first eight this morning and then the final 10 this evening, so it was just kind of a strange feel to it when you have that long of a delay, but roll with the punches.”

Ain't no stinkin' blisters can stop Scott Piercy

Blaine, Minnesota, USA; Scott Piercy holds his shoe on the 9th green during the third round of the 3M Open golf tournament. (Photo: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports)

If the shoe fits on Sunday, Piercy should be your 3M Open champion. That was an issue in the third round as Piercy dealt with discomfort from a blister on his right foot.

“Yesterday I wore a new pair of shoes and kind of rubbed my heel, kind of a dime-sized, nickel-sized blister on the back of my heel,” he said. “Tried to do some stuff last night to doctor it up to get ready and just every move the shoe made was painful, so I just took it off. Didn’t hurt to walk without it, so I just put it on when I hit and seemed to do OK.”

As much as Piercy tried to ignore it, he said the blister was a hindrance and may have been responsible for his struggles late in the round.

“I felt like I couldn’t get into my setup like I normally do and I felt that’s like where a couple of the loose shots came from,” he explained.

Piercy kept his right shoe on between shots for the last six holes and after the round he explained why.

“I had a whole array of stuff on my heel and I guess it just moved in a way where it situated where it didn’t really hurt, but it was untied because I kept trying to — if my heel doesn’t touch the back of the shoe, then it doesn’t hurt,” he said. :So I kept trying every time I walked to pull my foot out of the shoe. You know, it was every step was a grind, to be quite honest.”

Grillo loves the sixth hole

Blaine, Minnesota, USA; Emiliano Grillo reacts after making a putt for eagle on the 6th hole during the third round of the 3M Open golf tournament. (Photo: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports)

If only Emiliano Grillo could putt as well as he does on the sixth green at TPC Twin Cities, he’d be unstoppable. For the first three rounds, Grillo is 5 under on the 570-yard par 5. In the opening round, he drained a 20-foot birdie. Then on Friday, he drilled a 43-foot eagle putt, and he nearly duplicated the feat on Saturday, holing a 38-foot eagle this time.

Grillo was 4 under through his first six holes but cooled off after play resumed. He made two bogeys and two birdies the rest of the way, including at the last, and signed for a 4-under 67.

“You’re hoping to come back and keep playing the same way and obviously it didn’t happen,” Grillo said. “I’m pleased the way I handled, I’m pleased the way I closed the round.”

He enters the final round at 14-under and alone in second and bidding for his first win since his rookie debut at the 2015 Frys.com Open.

Tony Finau feasts again on TPC Twin Cities

Tony Finau chips from the rough on the 6th hole during the third round of the 3M Open golf tournament. (Photo: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports)

Finau fired a bogey-free 65 on Saturday, his 13^th round out of 15 in the 60s at TPC Twin Cities. But it was a hard-earned par at the ninth hole after pulling his drive into thick rough that he credited with jump-starting his round after the long break.

Finau still was in the frog’s collar short of the green when he used the toe of his putter from 34 feet to hole his putt for par.

“I use it often,” he explained. “Whenever I’m in the first cut or on the collar I use it, so I’m actually pretty lethal with it, which is cool. I made a few out here on tour kind of in that same situation, so it was nice to build some momentum off that putt.”

Finau, who finished T-3 at the 3M Open in 2020, is seeking his third Tour title.

Ghim goes low

Blaine, Minnesota, USA; Doug Ghim drives on the 7th hole during the third round of the 3M Open golf tournament. (Photo: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports)

Doug Ghim birdied two of the last three holes for a bogey-free 6-under 65 and a tie for third place heading into the final round of the 3M Open. Ghim, 26, entered the week ranked 117^th in FedEx Cup points and is seeking his first PGA Tour title. With only one bogey on his card all week, Ghim’s score of 200 marks his lowest 54-hole score on Tour.

“My game is in a better spot at this time of year than it was last year at this tournament as I missed cut. So peeking at the right time and with the big events coming up, I’m excited to be a part of it,” he said.

Ghim’s iron game was on point. His longest birdie putt of the day was from 8 feet. His closest? At No. 10, his first hole after play resumed, he stuffed his approach to 7 inches.

“It’s always nice to birdie your first hole back,” Ghim said. “That kind of settled some of like, you know, just a little nerves because it’s hard to get into a rhythm coming out of a delay like that.”

Sigg-Putnam-Poston post 64s

Greyson Sigg of the United States plays his shot from the second tee during the third round of the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities on July 23, 2022 in Blaine, Minnesota. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Greyson Sigg made a combined six birdies in his first two rounds of the 3M Open (70-68). On Saturday, he exceeded that total by two. Sigg, 27, made eight birdies and a single bogey en route to shooting 7-under 64, to tie for the low round of the day. It comes at a fortuitous time for Sigg, who has yet to record a top-10 finish this season and entered the week at No. 126 on the FedEx Cup points standings. He’s got a pretty simple game plan for Sunday.

“Just give myself as many looks as possible and hopefully see a few go it,” said Sigg, who birdied seven of his last 11 holes on Saturday.

Andrew Putnam, 33, made a big move on Saturday, too, making birdie on his first hole and an eagle at the last to shoot 64 and improve to 10-under 203 and T-8 heading into the final round.

J.T. Poston has been one of the hottest golfers on the planet, shooting 62s to start the Travelers Championship and the John Deere Classic, where he went wire-to-wire for the win. This time, he waited until the third round to heat up and shoot 64.

“The confidence level is high, it’s great,” Poston said. “I know I’m capable of making a bunch of birdies, I’ve done that the last few months, last few tournaments. Even missing the cut last week in The Open, I made 12 birdies in two rounds. So I know I’m making enough birdies to shoot a low number, I just need to keep doing what I’m doing and keep feeing off that sort of momentum and confidence a little bit.”

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