Jacob Bridgeman stuck an old putter from his high school days into play to roll in nine birdies and a round of 8-under 63 at TPC Twin Cities for a one-stroke lead over Mackenzie Hughes.
With his caddie having travel woes due to the CrowdStrike tech outage, Bridgeman killed time on Tuesday in the TaylorMade truck and messed around with a gray Spider mallet putter that he used six years ago. He took it out to the course and got instant results.
Bridgeman has yet to record a top-10 finish this season, but could make up for a sluggish start with a big week — a win has him projected to leap to No 63.
🚀 Theegala Seeks Revenge: Sahith Theegala has missed the cut in his three previous appearances at the 3M Open. He’d only broken 70 once in six rounds – according to him, this is a “revenge week”.
He’s off to a great start, carding a 5-under 66 in the first round. Theegala realizes the course might not be the best fit for his game but he’s improved his driving, gaining strokes off the tee in 17 of 20 events this season.
He hit 9-of-14 fairways and gained more than a shot with his driver in the first round.
📌 Hughes’ Hot Putter: Mackenzie Hughes posted a bogey-free 64, thanks to a red-hot putter. He took just seven putts on his first six holes and sank a 54-foot birdie put at No 13 among his 188 feet of putts made.
He entered the week at No 50 in the FedEx Cup standings and has all to play for with qualification at stake.
🚫 Horschel Withdraws: Billy Horschel, who finished tied for second at The Open Championship last weekend, withdrew due to illness. Alternate Adam Long replaced him in the field.
Horschel, 37, won the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic in April and is ranked 26th in the FedEx Cup standings – he’s likely to make it to the season-end playoffs despite the miss.
