golf | Tuesday, July 25, 2023 12:17 PM

3M Open Best Bet: 71.00 Pick For This Weekend’s Action

Duncan Campbell

3M Open Best Bet: Thursday, July 27th

TPC Twin Cities is the host course for the 3M Open. We have analysed the betting markets to bring you our 3M Open best bet.

In this article:

3M Open Preview
3M Open Best Bet

3M Open Preview

Thursday, 27th July, 12:00 (UK)

TPC Twin Cities is once again the host course for the 3M Open, having hosted every event since 2019. An Arnold Palmer design, TPC Twin Cities will play to a length of 7,431 yards.

Just as it has in previous years, the course will play as a par 71. Generous fairways allow for big hitters to open their shoulders and it shouldn’t go unnoticed that the winners here in previous years include Matthew Wolff, Cameron Champ and Tony Finau.

The weather forecast looks favourable for the whole week. As it stands there is no rain in the forecast and the wind isn’t scheduled to blow much above 10mph. If the weather had an impact at last week’s Open Championship, it certainly shouldn’t have any say in proceedings this week.

This is the penultimate event of the regular PGA Tour season. Only the top 70 in the FedEx Cup rankings will progress to the playoffs after next week’s Wyndham Championship. Several players who played in last week’s Open Championship have added this event to their schedule in an effort to get inside the top 70. Justin Thomas is perhaps the biggest name to be in this position but be aware of other players looking to cement their position in the standings.

3M Open Best Bet

Defending champion, Tony Finau, heads up the betting this week at 13.0. A missed cut at last week’s Open Championship was a surprise and he looks opposable.

Wins at TPC Twin Cities for Finau and Cameron Champ lead to a possible course correlation with Vidanta Villarta, home of the Mexico Open. For that reason Akshay Bhatia was the first name on my list when opening prices of 61.0 went up with bet365. Bhatia was the winner last week at the Barracuda Championship and recorded a fourth place finish at the Mexico Open earlier this year.

Those initial odds have since been trimmed to 51.0 and there remains an element of doubt over how Bhatia will perform the week after his win. When interviewed after his win, Bhatia stated that his goal this year had been to make the playoffs and with that target secured, he may well not have his full focus for this week’s test.

Wins for Bhatia and Vincent Norrman in the last two weeks may well give impetus to other fellow youngsters on Tour and for that reason, along with excellent driving stats, Sam Stevens and Davis Thompson made appeal this week. Both players make their course debut this week though and neither player is priced at a point where they would be my best bet. Instead that distinction goes to a player already mentioned in this article.

Cameron Champ, priced up at 71.0 with bet365, is a bet I can’t ignore. A winner in 2020 at TPC Twin Cities, he also posted a very credible 16th place finish when defending last year.

Champ’s recent form has been mixed but his stats were in solid shape last week when finishing 17th at the Barracuda and he looks primed for another run at the title. Length off the tee is normally his main weapon so it was encouraging to see him rank inside the top 25 for driving accuracy and 16th for greens in regulation.

What particularly appeals about Champ is his ability to repeat big finishes on courses he has previously performed well at. Strong finishes have come here, in Mexico and Augusta amongst others. All three courses reward length off the tee and Champ has everything going for him this week on a course he clearly enjoys. As ever, bet365 are offering a range of each way place options in the outright market which is why we’re using them for this piece. However, I like Champ with eight each way places at 71.00.