Dean Etheridge
Golf’s major championship events are now over for 2021, and attention now turns to the race to qualify for the FedEx Cup Play-Offs.
There are just a handful of tournaments left for the players to secure a high enough FedEx ranking to reach September’s Tour Championship, starting with the 3M Open this week.
- 3M Open
- July 22nd to July 25th, 2021
- Course – TPC Twin Cities, 11444 Tournament Players Pkwy, Blaine, MN 55449, United States
- World Number 2 Dustin Johnson heads the field in the latest golf betting
- Our Golf Betting page has more advice and help
The 3M Open is hosted by TPC Twin Cities in Minnesota and is one of the newest events on the PGA Tour.
The competition was first staged in 2019 and was one of the lucky events to survive the shortened 2020 rescheduling caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Last year the competition was won by Michael Thompson. The American held off a final day charge from Adam Long to win by two shots and pick up the winner’s check.
This year the overall purse is $6,600,000, with the winner earning $1,188,000 and also receiving 500 FedEx points.
Not the Strongest Field this year!
Just four of the world’s top 20 will be present at TPC Twin Cities this week. Only Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen, Tony Finau, and Patrick Reed of golf’s elite have risked the jetlag to play this weekend.
Despite this, there will still be a high enough standard of player teeing off on Thursday. Bubba Watson and Sergio Garcia are two players looking to make the most of the absence of big names.
Bubba Watson missed last weekend’s Open Championship after discovering he had been in close contact with someone who had tested positive for Covid-19.
With a week of recuperation and little traveling under his belt, Watson is available at +2800, which could be good value.
Spain’s Sergio Garcia is available at +3000. The Spaniard hasn’t been in great form of late. But he did manage a top 20 finish at the Open last week, albeit a massive 11 shots behind eventual winner Collin Morikawa.
A dream debut 👏
Congratulations, Collin Morikawa, Champion Golfer of the Year 🏆
#TheOpen pic.twitter.com/x1TfIPewYI
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 18, 2021
3M Betting Favorites
Not surprisingly, Dustin Johnson is the favorite to win the title with the bookmakers. The top sportsbooks have DJ at +650 to add another title to his impressive portfolio.
Following Johnson in the betting is world number 9, Louis Oosthuizen. The South African was a long-time leader at last weekend’s Open Championship and is +1400 to win here, which is also the same price as Tony Finau.
The final member of the elite quartet is Patrick Reed. He is available at +1800 to add to his one tour victory this season.
If you believe last year’s winner, Michael Thompson, has a chance of winning back to back, he is available at +8000 to win again.
| To Win 2021 3M Open |  |  |
| Dustin Johnson | +650 | +650 |
| Louis Oosthuizen | +1400 | +1400 |
| Tony Finau | +1400 | +1500 |
| Patrick Reed | +1800 | +2000 |
| Bubba Watson | +2800 | +2600 |
| Sergio Garcia | +3000 | +2800 |
| Cameron Tringale | +3000 | +2800 |
| Matthew Wolff | +3000 | +3000 |
| Robert MacIntyre | +3000 | +3000 |
| Cameron Davis | +3300 | +3500 |
| Emiliano Grillo | +3300 | +3500 |
| Dylan Frittelli | +4000 | +3800 |
| Keegan Bradley | +4000 | +4000 |
| Lucas Herbert | +4000 | +4000 |
| Rickie Fowler | +4000 | +3500 |
| Doug Ghim | +4000 | +4000 |
| Luke List | +5000 | +4500 |
| Michael Thompson | +8000 | +7000 |
3M Picks
First up, and I’m going to avoid backing any of the top 20 this weekend.
One of them may win, but they’ve all just flown back from England in the previous few hours, and I don’t see any value in backing them.
So instead, I’m looking at some each-way shots.
Back Doug Ghim Each-Way
Looking for some good value and the first name I’m going to give you is Doug Ghim.
Why? you may ask, and the answer is because in his last outing – the John Deere Classic – he ranked 2nd for Approach Play and 6th for Tee to Green Play.
These are decent stats that show Ghim is in good form and could be ready to make an impact.
Ghim’s season form shows that he ranks 16th in Approach stats and 25th on Tee to Green. Considering the company he’s keeping on the PGA Tour, that’s impressive.
The area Ghim needs to work on is using his putter. He has been improving recently though, and his form is showing progression. His last three events have produced finishes of 54-32 and most recent 18.
Can Luke List add to his recent Top 5 Finishes?
Also giving us a bit of decent each-way value is Luke List.
The American has dropped down the rankings to 142, but he has had two finishes in the Top 5 recently.
At odds of +5000 List could be decent value to finish in the top 5 again, and maybe start to work his way back up the rankings.
He has a career-high ranking of 45, so is another player who clearly has the talent.
For even better odds on golf, check out our top sportsbooks page. Here you can find the best places to bet on golf online.
