It’s another whirlwind week in the world of golf.
Following an absolute classic last week at the 150th Open Championship, the PGA TOUR, which is once again being bombarded by defections and rumors surrounding the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series, doesn’t have much to offer in response.
After the golf world descended on its ancestral home last week, the TOUR swings to the Twin Cities for the 3M Open with a field that leaves plenty to be desired. It’s understandable that the world’s best players aren’t eager to play back-to-back weeks halfway around the globe, yet it leaves us with a tournament where some unusual names are among this week’s favorites.
In a tournament with only one top-10 player in the Official World Golf Rankings and only three of the top 25, there is plenty of room for a surprise winner to take center stage on Sunday afternoon.
Beau Hossler +10000 (PointsBet)
Hossler has simply played too well this season to go without a win. He’s posted two top fives and seven finishes of T21 or better throughout the course of this FedExCup season.
There may not be a PGA TOUR player more due for a win. Since turning pro in the fall of 2016, Hossler has 12 top-10 finishes (across the PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour events) and has been in the top four seven times without collecting his first win as a pro.
He’s got two made cuts in three tries at this venue and feels undervalued at this number.
Brice Garnett +13000 (DraftKings)
As a man who shares Brice Garnett's last name once said: “Anything is possible.”
The 38-year-old Garnett has played 209 events on the PGA TOUR and won just once, back at the 2018 event in Punta Cana. Despite that track record, there’s reason to like his chances this week.
In three trips to the Twin Cities, Garnett has three made cuts and hasn’t finished lower than T26.
When Garnett is on his game, he makes it count. Since March, he has played 15 events and only made seven cuts. Yet in those seven made cuts, he has three finishes of T16 or better, including last week at the Barracuda.
A little bit of a track record at the venue with a strong finish last week is enough to roll the dice on Garnett in this field.
Joseph Bramlett +15000 (DraftKings)
According to metrics from DataGolf, Bramlett has been the 10th best player in this week’s field from tee-to-green over the last 12 months. That would suggest he is undervalued at these odds.
Why so high?
Over that same period, Bramlett has been the 140th best putter among the 156 players in this tournament’s field. Change the sample size or the date range, and it doesn’t get any prettier. Bramlett really struggles with the flat-stick.
Bramlett has gained more than 0.50 strokes on the greens per round in just two events since the start on 2021 – a T7 at the 2023 Byron Nelson and a T18 at the 2021 Farmers. When the putts drop, he’s a factor. He proved that by winning the 2021 Korn Ferry Championship, with a duo of weekend 65s.
He’s played this event twice. Last season, Bramlett lost a ton of strokes on the green and limped to a T65. In 2020, he gained +1.94 strokes putting, but in a rare twist, he struggled elsewhere in his game and missed the cut.
If things click this week, he has a chance to spark.
Callum Tarren +13000 (DraftKings)
In a year full of events with lesser fields, Tarren has struck at the right times. He tied for fifth in Puerto Rico and tied for sixth at the John Deere. Last week at the Barracuda, he was T22.
Over the past 90 days, he ranks 30th among guys in this week’s field in strokes gained, but he doesn’t have a top-five finish in that span. If he continues to play the way he has this season, there’s no reason Tarren couldn’t capitalize with a win.
Justin Lower +13000 (DraftKings)
While most eyes swung to Scotland for the last two weeks to catch the Scottish Open and the Open Championship, Lower quietly played some excellent golf stateside.
Two weeks ago, he finished tied for eighth at the Barbasol, and last week he was T16 at the Barracuda. After struggling with his putter early in his rookie season, the 33-year-old has seemed to figure out his stroke. Over the last three months, he ranks in the top 10 among players in this week’s field on the greens. He could ride a hot putter to the top of the leaderboard.
