GOLF PICK 'EM: 3M OPEN MATCHUP BREAKDOWNS
Golf Pick 'Em is back for another season of picks and prizes in the NBC Sports Predictor app.
The free-to-play game has returned in 2021 and continues this week with the 3M Open. Each week participants will choose between a series of head-to-head matchups, plus select an overall tournament champion and winning score.
Participants can compete for weekly cash prizes, with a $50,000 jackpot available for any participants who earn a perfect score (increasing up to $100,000 during some of the biggest events of the year). There will also be at least $1,000 awarded each week in guaranteed cash and prizes, even if there is no player with a perfect score.
The U.S. Open featured a jackpot winner, as one user took home $100,200 after picking Jon Rahm to win at 6 under and getting all 10 matchups correct.
Here's a look at some of the keys to this week's set of 10 matchups as the PGA Tour makes its lone stop in the state of Minnesota for the third installment of this event:
Louis Oosthuizen vs. Dustin Johnson
Keys: It was another near-miss for Oosthuizen at Royal St. George's, as he led after each of the first three rounds but couldn't keep pace Sunday with Collin Morikawa. Johnson bounced back from a mini-slump to finish T-8 at The Open and now returns to Minnesota where he withdrew last year after an opening-round 78. Oosthuizen will be making his tournament debut and remains in search of his first career win on U.S. soil.
Edge: Oosthuizen
Keys: Fowler rallied with a Sunday 65 at Royal St. George's, but it still only netted him a T-53 finish in the year's final major. He'll be making his tournament debut, while Finau has one of the stronger records at TPC Twin Cities: a T-23 finish in 2019 followed by a T-3 result last year, with all eight rounds in the 60s. He finished T-15 last week in England after a closing 67 for his best result since the PGA Championship.
Edge: Finau
Michael Thompson vs. Matthew Wolff
Keys: This matchup features the winners in the tournament's two-year history. Wolff burst onto the scene with his dramatic breakthrough in 2019, but in recent months he has struggled both on and off the course. He opted to skip both the PGA Championship and The Open, but in between he finished T-15 at the U.S. Open among three starts since the Masters. Thompson earned his second career Tour win in the Twin Cities last summer but has just one top-10 finish since and missed four of five cuts before a T-41 finish at the Deere.
Edge: Wolff
Steve Stricker vs. Patrick Reed
Keys: The U.S. Ryder Cup captain against one of the men hoping to play for him at Whistling Straits. Stricker opted out of a title defense two weeks ago at the U.S. Senior Open, instead teeing it up at the John Deere where he finished T-41. He has made six of eight cuts on the main circuit this year, highlighted by a T-13 showing at the Honda, and will be making his tournament debut. Reed shot 3 over to miss the cut by two shots at The Open and now returns to a course where he finished T-23 two years ago in his tournament debut, with all four rounds in the 60s.
Edge: Reed
Stewart Cink vs. Sergio Garcia
Keys: Cink had a wild week at The Open, missing the cut after going 66-77. He has two wins under his belt this season, most recently at the RBC Heritage in April, and he finished T-46 last year in his 3M debut. Garcia shot a 66 Sunday to grab a share of 19th at Royal St. George's for his fourth straight top-20 finish after a run of four straight missed cuts.
Edge: Garcia
Keys: Two of the Tour's most decorated veterans, with Watson hoping to bounce back from an unfortunate WD at The Open after he was not allowed to board the charter flight from the U.S. over COVID-19 contact tracing concerns. He finished T-6 in Detroit in his most recent start and missed the cut here last year in his lone prior appearance. Kuchar struggled at Royal St. George's, exiting after rounds of 74-72, and he has only made the weekend once in five starts since late May. This marks his first 3M appearance.
Edge: Watson
Keys: The last time we saw these two together was in Detroit, where Davis beat Merritt on the fifth hole of a playoff for his first career win. The Aussie finished T-55 at the Deere but missed The Open because of travel-related visa issues, while Merritt made the trek over to England but missed the cut after rounds of 73-70. Both have had some success here, with Merritt finishing T-7 in 2019 and Davis finishing T-12 last year.
Edge: Davis
Robert MacIntyre vs. Brian Harman
Keys: A battle of the lefties. MacIntyre was a late entrant on the heels of his T-8 finish at The Open, his second straight top-20 on links layouts and his fifth such result over his last nine starts, all made cuts with just one finish outside the top 40. Harman finished T-19 at Royal St. George's and has been similarly solid in recent months, with nine top-20s in his last 11 starts. He'll have some history on his side this week, having finished T-7 in Minnesota two years ago.
Edge: Harman
Keys: Two of the most popular players in the eyes of Golf Twitter square off. Dahmen made the trek across the Atlantic last week, finishing T-46 in his second Open appearance. He'll now turn his attention to the Twin Cities, where he'll tee it up for the first time. Higgs watched The Open from home and will look to end a slide of three missed cuts in a row and four in his last five starts on a course where he shot 72-76 last year.
Edge: Dahmen
J.T. Poston vs. Emiliano Grillo
Keys: Poston let one get away Sunday in Kentucky, playing his final four holes in 3 over before losing a six-hole playoff to Seamus Power at the Barbasol. He'll be making his tournament debut in Minnesota while Grillo returns to a course where he finished T-3 last year, including rounds of 64-65 over the weekend. The Argentine broke a streak of three straight missed cuts with a T-12 finish at The Open, his fifth top-20 finish since March.
Edge: Grillo
