BLAINE, Minn. – (Aug. 10, 2017) – The 25th playing of the 3M Championship brought another round of memories to Minnesota golf fans. The week-long celebration started with pro-ams and tributes to the late Arnold Palmer. When championship play kicked off on Friday players started going low and posting great scores as they often do at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine. But on Saturday eventual winner Paul Goydos shot a score that had never been recorded before at the tournament a record 12 under par.
“I was kind of going along pretty good yesterday,” said Paul Goydos about his Saturday play.
Even with his impressive score Goydos was not alone at the top of the leader board. Goydos entered Sunday tied for the tournament lead with Kenny Perry and Gene Sauers. Perry who has won the 3M Championship twice before faded, but Sauers went toe to toe with Goydos all day on Sunday. Storm clouds threatened through much of the final round before finally opening up and causing a rain delay of more than an hour. After they got back on the course Goydos and Sauers continued to match each other. They finished 18 and were still deadlocked, now at 20 under par for the tournament. This meant the championship would be decided in a playoff for the second year in a row. It was the playoff where Sauers finally made a mistake, putting his approach shot into the water and Goydos just cleared the water and cashed in.
“Gene got unlucky,” Goydos said. “Here I am standing.”
Goydos celebrated his 5th win on the PGA Tour Champions and was glad to take home the trophy at one of his favorite places to play.
“You wonder if it’s the last one whenever you win, and I’ve been struggling all year, Goydos said. “I really like it here, I’ve enjoyed the people here, I’ve enjoyed my time . . . here in Blaine and Minneapolis, it’s a great town,” Goydos said.
The PGA Tour Champions will be back again next year for the 3M Championship. After that thought the future of the tournament is unclear as tournament organizers are in the process of bidding for an official PGA Tour event that could start as soon as 2019.
