Major championship season has come and gone and the race for the FedEx Cup playoffs is coming to a head with just three events remaining before the postseason tees off on Aug. 13.
The crucial stretch of the PGA Tour season begins with this week’s 3M Open from TPC Twin Cities as players look to get inside the top-70 cutoff to qualify for the first playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Sudarshan Yellamaraju, Corey Conners, Taylor Pendrith, A.J. Ewart, Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Svensson, Ben Silverman, Adam Hadwin make up the Canadian contingent this week from Minneapolis.
At 52nd in the FedEx Cup standings, Yellamaraju leads all Canadians in the season-long points race and has virtually locked up his spot in the playoffs during an impressive rookie campaign on the PGA Tour.
Conners moved up six places to 58th following a T14 finish at The Open last week – his best finish at the four majors this year – and also appears to be a lock for the St. Jude in three weeks’ time.
Pendrith (80th) and Ewart (90th) are both currently on the outside looking in of the playoff picture and are in desperate need of a good showing at the 3M if they are to have any hope of securing a tee time at the first playoff event.
Pendrith appeared to be heating up at the right time after a narrow playoff loss at the ISCO Championship that vaulted him up 18 spots in the standings. Things took a turn for the worse last week at the Corales Puntacana Championship, where he finished finish four shots outside the cut line in a potentially decisive blow for his playoff hopes.
Ewart was also in the field in the Dominican Republic last week, and posted his sixth top-20 finish of his rookie season on Tour.
The Coquitlam, B.C. native appears unlikely to get inside the cutoff before the start of the playoffs, but should be in line to keep his playing privileges on Tour next season.
The same can not be said for Hughes, Silverman, Svensson, and Hadwin, who are all outside of the top 100 entering play on Thursday.
Hughes matched Ewart with a T20 at the Corales last week to move up to 110th in the standings and stay within striking distance of the cut off, but Silverman (131), Svensson (174), and Hadwin (186) all posted missed cuts and will likely have to head to qualifying school for a chance at a Tour card for next year.
Also in the field this week is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is making his debut at the tournament after coming up just short at The Open Championship, while Hideki Matsuyama and Tom Kim look to keep pace in the International Team standings for the Presidents Cup.
How to watch the 3M Open on TSN, TSN+
First-round coverage of the 3M Open begins on TSN+ Thursday morning at 7:45 a.m. ET / 4:45 a.m. PT.
TSN+ will also carry three bonus streams for the opening round with the Featured Groups and Featured Holes feeds getting underway at 8:30 a.m. ET / 5:30 a.m. PT, while the Marquee Group feed begins at 8:45 a.m. ET / 5:45 a.m. PT.
Friday’s coverage mirrors the plan from Thursday, with all four streams beginning at the same time they did on the previous day on TSN+.
Moving day also gets underway on TSN+ with the main feed (8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT), followed by the Featured Groups (8:45 a.m. ET / 5:45 a.m. PT), Featured Holes (8:45 a.m. / 5:45 a.m. PT), and the Marquee Group (9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT).
Third-round coverage then continues on TSN3/4 at 3 p.m. ET / Noon PT for the remainder of the day.
The final round starts at 8 a.m. ET / 5 a.m. PT. on TSN+, while the Featured Groups and Featured Holes get underway at 8:45 a.m. ET / 5:45 a.m. PT. You can also catch the Marquee Group bonus feed beginning at 9 a.m. ET / 6 a.m. PT with a subscription to TSN+.
Coverage then shifts over to TSN4 at 3 p.m. ET / Noon PT until a winner is crowned.
