Value Report: 3M Open

Whew, what an Open Championship. That right there is arguably the peak of what I personally would dream of every single week for professional golf. It was not just an event with the best golfers in the entire world teeing it up together, but it was at a course that demanded excellence from every club in your bag, and the way we saw wind direction playing such an impact was links golf to a tee. The drastic differences from the front nine to the back nine depending on where it was blowing from and how that could be flipped from day to day was just electric. I loved every part of this year’s Open, and those that succeeded were honestly the golfers whose mental game rose to the occasion just as much as their physical. And kudos of course to Xander Schauffele on what has been more than just a breakthrough year. Fighting the lovable loser narrative for the better part of his entire career, the script now has been completely rewritten and is just another good reminder on how difficult it is to win a golf tournament.

The Open is so dear to my heart because it seemingly continues to be the major that delivers the most Cinderella stories when it comes to long shots with fighting chances. Daniel Brown being the first-round leader and holding his own through the weekend was quite magical. Thriston Lawrence going blow for blow in the final group and having a solo lead heading to the back nine had me fist pumping. As much as I know both of their games from the DP World Tour, I was nowhere near selecting either from their lack of recent form, but just to have those two make a real run at things was electric as a viewer.