Sungjae Im and Scott Piercy lead after carding opening-round 65s, while Tony Finau is two strokes back in tied-third; Hideki Matsuyama withdrew after a six-over 77 - watch the 3M Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports Golf
Friday 22 July 2022 06:26, UK
Pre-tournament favourite Hideki Matsuyama withdrew from the 3M Open through injury after experiencing a nightmare opening round in Minneapolis.
The world No 14, the highest-ranked player in the field, cited wrist soreness as the reason for pulling out of the PGA Tour event after an opening-round 77 at TPC Twin Cities.
Matsuyama only registered one birdie during a difficult opening day, where he also registered three bogeys and put three balls in the water at the par-five 18th on his way a quadruple-bogey nine.
The former Masters champion, among the players linked to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, would have gone into Friday's second round 12 strokes behind early pacesetters Scott Piercy and Sungjae Im.
Piercy birdied three of his opening six holes and bounced back from a bogey at the ninth to start his back nine with four birdies in a five-hole stretch, while Im birdied four of his last six - including from 26 feet on his final hole - to also get to six under.
The pair hold a two-stroke cushion over a group of five players on four under that contains Tony Finau, who recovered from a three-putt bogey on his opening hole to make five birdies on his way to an opening-round 67.
Finau failed to add to his tally as he finished with six straight pars, leaving him tied-third with Tom Hoge, Brice Garnett, Doug Ghim and Emiliano Grillo, while England's Matt Wallace is five off the pace after a one-under 70.
Former Davis Cup captain and ATP Tour player Mardy Fish, making his PGA Tour debut after receiving a sponsor's invite, sits joint-bottom of the leaderboard after struggling to a 10-over 81.
Fish was seven over after just eight holes and fell further behind with back-to-back bogeys from the 11th, although the 43-year-old briefly rallied with six consecutive pars before dropping a shot at the par-five last.
Watch the 3M Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues on Friday with Featured Groups from 1pm via the red button, ahead of full coverage on Sky Sports Golf from 8.30pm.
