3M Open Betting Tips: 6 Panel Selections From TPC Twin Cities

The major season ended with Scottie Scheffler winning The Open Championship by four shots in an excellent four days for American players, who took the top three spots.

The build-up to the FedExCup Playoffs gets under way this week with the low-key 3M Open where Sam Burns returns from Royal Portrush as the 16/1 favourite on betting sites to win in Minneapolis.

Defending champion Jhonathan Vegas, who was also runner-up in his previous visit to TPC Twin Cities four years ago, is 66/1 for a successful title defence following a solid if unspectacular trip to Northern Ireland.

There are several players in the field around the 70-man cut-off point for next month’s first Playoff event at the FedEx St Jude Championship, so the stakes remain high despite all but one of the world’s top 20 skipping the tournament after their exertions at The Open.

It proved to be a largely disappointing week for The Panel who only had one return from Matt Fitzpatrick’s fourth-placed finish at 40/1, although Russell Henley was just one shot outside the places at 55/1.

Winners of the 3M Open over the last six years have tended to feature prominently in the Strokes Gained Tee-to-Green, Approach and Putting, so The Panel are focusing on players strong in at least one of these metrics.

Aside from Tony Finau’s victory in 2022, it can also pay dividends to back longshots, bearing in mind the lowest-priced winner in the last six years was 80/1.

Three of this week’s four 3M Open betting tips range between 40/1 and 75/1, which kick off with the lowest odds of the four outrights.

3M Open Betting Tips: Make McNealy The One

Burns may be the main man this week, but The Panel prefer the prospects of Maverick McNealy, who enjoyed a decent four days on the Antrim coast where a closing 66 ensured a top-25 finish.

McNealy has continued the form that brought a maiden PGA Tour title at the RSM Classic in November, posting six top 10s and finishing no worse than 37th in all four majors this year.

The 29-year-old Californian is solid in the tee-to-green, approach and putting stats, and interestingly had positive numbers for all the major measurements at Portrush last week.

McNealy also has a decent record at TPC Twin Cities. Aside from a mid-table finish three years ago, he was 16th on his 2021 debut at this course and 12 months ago he trailed Vegas by one shot heading into Sunday’s final round.

A closing one-under-par 70 meant he had to settle for third spot, but the knowledge he can play well on this track should serve McNealy well this week when he is the top-ranked player in the field.

Victory this week will also boost his chances of making Keegan Bradley’s Ryder Cup team, so The Panel are on board McNealy at 20/1 with golf betting sites as the first of this week’s 3M Open betting tips.

3M Open Prediction 1: Maverick McNealy (Each-Way) - 20/1 With Betfred (Five Places)

3M Open Betting Tips:

• Maverick McNealy (Each-Way) - 20/1 With Betfred (Five Places)
• Alex Smalley (Each-Way) - 66/1 With Bet365 (Eight Places)
• Kurt Kitayama (Each-Way) - 40/1 With Bet365 (Five Places)
• Jacob Bridgeman (Each-Way) - 75/1 With talkSPORT (Five Places)
• Tony Finau (Each-Way) First-Round Leader - 60/1 With Unibet (Six Places) 
• Emiliano Grillo Top 20 - 5/2 With SpreadEx

(Odds correct at 12.30pm on July 22)

3M Open Betting Predictions: Big Chance For Smalley

Alex Smalley has a fantastic opportunity to break into the top 70 of the FedExCup standings by landing his first PGA Tour title this week.

The 28-year-old from Rochester, New York, failed to qualify for The Open after finishing 34th at The Renaissance Club, but that could be a blessing in disguise.

Many players struggled on the Dunluce Links, so with a week off to recharge his batteries from his trip to Scotland, Smalley could be in for a good four days in Blaine where last year he was in the top five heading into the weekend only to finish in 12th place.

Smalley is solid in two of the three statistics mentioned above: 24th for SG: Tee-to-Green and 30th for Putting, but even his Approach numbers are acceptable.

Indeed, Smalley was 10th for that stat during a successful week at the Canadian Open last month, just a few weeks after finishing inside the top 30 at the USPGA Championship.

Admittedly, Smalley has not been on top of his game since The Players Championship, but The Panel think he looks worth a punt in a weakened field at 66/1 as the next of this week’s 3M Open predictions.

3M Open Prediction 2: Alex Smalley (Each-Way) - 66/1 With Bet365 (Eight Places)

3M Open Betting Odds: Kurt Can Peak At Twin Cities

Kurt Kitayama is another player who was on the first page of the leaderboard 12 months ago when an eagle at the 72nd hole secured sixth spot on his tournament debut.

Outside the top 100 in the FedExCup Playoff standings, Kitayama needs to get a move on before the first of the three tournaments gets under way at TPC Southwind in three weeks’ time.

The good news is that Kitayama is playing pretty well and he stayed local last week by playing at the Barracuda Championship where he finished a more than respectable 14th.

A fortnight earlier, the American shot a bogey-free four-under-par 67 in the final round to finish fifth in the John Deere Classic, so he is coming to the boil ahead of this week’s trip to Minnesota.

Kitayama may not be the best with a putter in hand, but he produced a positive Strokes Gained number at Deere Run recently and overall he has been excellent from tee to green this season.

With the forthcoming Playoffs a big motivation, Kitayama is worth a whirl at 40/1 on betting apps.

3M Open Prediction 3: Kurt Kitayama (Each-Way) - 40/1 With Bet365 (Five Places)

3M Open Golf Tips: Play Your Cards Right With Bridgeman 

Jacob Bridgeman did not play in Northern Ireland or California last week, so he should be fresh for the challenge of this water-laden course.

Bridgeman is just outside the top 30 in the FedEXCup rankings so the Tour Championship is clearly on the American’s radar and he can boost his chances further with a decent performance at a track which 2023 champion Lee Hodges claimed is a “ball-striker’s course”.

Although he did not have the best of weeks at the Scottish Open, he finished fifth at the John Deere Classic where his numbers were positive for all the major metrics.

Bridgeman made his Twin Cities debut last year when he posted a top 20 thanks to an opening-round 63, a career-low score on the PGA Tour.

One of the best putters this season, Bridgeman will be a serious threat if he can repeat his tee-to-green perfromance at Deere Run.

At 75/1 with talkSPORT BET, Bridgeman wraps up this week’s 3M Open betting tips from the outright market.

3M Open Prediction 4: Jacob Bridgeman (Each-Way) - 75/1 With talkSPORT BET (Five Places) 

3M Open First-Round Leader Tips: Finau Flying Out Of The Blocks

Tony Finau made a strong start at last week’s Open Championship and was 10th heading into the weekend only to fade on Saturday and Sunday.

The American has been starting fairly strongly lately, being inside the top 20 in three of his last six tournaments after the opening round, but his record at Twin Cities is spectacular.

Ninth in 2023 and 14th in 2024, Finau was third after Thursday’s round in the year he won the tournament in 2022, having also been third two years earlier. 

That’s decent form by anyone’s standard and he catches the eye at 60/1 with Unibet as this week’s 3M Open first-round leader tip.

3M Open Prediction 5: Tony Finau (Each-Way) First-Round Leader - 60/1 With Unibet (Six Places)

3M Open Top-20 Betting Tips: Sizzling Grillo Can Cook Up Big Finish

Emiliano Grillo has a brilliant record at this course, finishing inside the top 10 in three of his five visits, including a runner-up spot to Finau three years ago.

The Argentinian also finished three shots behind the winner on his tournament debut in 2020 and was just outside the top 20 last year (24th).

Grillo suffered play-off heartache at the John Deere Classic when he lost to Brian Campbell on the first extra hole, but on the positive side that was his fourth top 20 in his last eight tournaments.

Just outside the top 70 in the FedExCup standings, Grillo can take a big step towards sealing his spot at TPC Southwind with another fine display on this course.

The Panel are happy to jump on the 5/2 being offered by SpreadEx for Grillo to land a fourth top-20 spot in six visits to this course. 

3M Open Prediction 6: Emiliano Grillo Top 20 - 5/2 With SpreadEx