3M Open Round 1: Adam Svensson Fires a Record 60 to Grab the Lead

Adam Svensson showed up in Minnesota with a season that looked like it needed a rescue. By lunchtime Thursday, he had the lowest score in 3M Open history and a two-shot lead.

The 31-year-old Canadian shot an 11-under 60 at TPC Twin Cities, a bogey-free round with nine birdies and a closing eagle, to sit at 11 under after one round. Sam Stevens (62) and Thorbjørn Olesen are two back at 9 under. Chris Gotterup, Chad Ramey and Matti Schmid are three back at 8 under, and a crowd of four sits at 7 under, per the PGA TOUR's Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab).

Sixty, Out of Nowhere

Context makes this round wild. Svensson came into the week with one top-25 finish in 21 starts this season and 11 missed cuts, according to the PGA TOUR. He had slid to 234th in the Official World Golf Ranking, per the AP. His lone TOUR win came at the 2022 RSM Classic, which feels like a long time ago when the cut line keeps winning.

Then Thursday happened. Svensson went out in 30 and came home in 30. The heart of it was a stretch from No. 4 through No. 12 in which he made seven birdies in nine holes, including a 34-footer on the fourth and a putt of nearly 40 feet on the 11th. He closed birdie, par, and then stood over a 48-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th.

It dropped. That eagle is what turned a great round into a historic one.

"It was probably my best putting round I ever had, so I'm pretty happy," Svensson said, per the AP.

The putting numbers back him up. He needed just 25 putts, and CBS Sports had him gaining nearly five strokes on the field on the greens alone. Heavy rain on Wednesday softened the course for the morning wave, per the Minnesota Star Tribune, and Svensson took every bit of that gift.

The Record Book

The 60 is the lowest round in the tournament's seven-year history, breaking the old 3M Open mark of 62 by two. It also tied the TPC Twin Cities course record, a 60 Paul Goydos posted at the 2017 3M Championship on PGA TOUR Champions, according to the PGA TOUR. It is the second-lowest score on TOUR this season, behind only Jake Knapp's 59 at the Cognizant Classic in February.

Fittingly, Knapp is in the mix again. He opened with a 64 and is part of the group at 7 under, alongside Chris Kirk, Zac Blair and Brendan Valdes.

Stevens and the One That Got Wet

For a while, Sam Stevens looked like the player who would own the headlines. He was 10 under and on pace for a 59 when he stepped onto the par-5 18th. From 246 yards, his second shot found the water. He scrambled for a bogey 6, signed for a 62, his lowest round on TOUR, and spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about the gap between his 3-iron and 3-wood.

Stevens told reporters he was caught between those clubs and hit a poor shot. It is a tough way to end a near-historic day, but 62 still has him in the second spot, tied with Olesen at 9 under.

Olesen, a decorated DP World Tour winner still chasing his first PGA TOUR title, quietly matched Stevens at 9 under. Behind them, Gotterup kept his summer heater going with a bogey-free 63. This is a player who won the Genesis Scottish Open two weeks ago and finished third at The Open last week. He is not cooling off.

The Bubble Is Loud

This is the second-to-last week of the regular season, and the FedExCup math is everywhere. The top 70 move on to the first Playoffs event in two weeks, and 18 players ranked between 60th and 80th are in this field.

Rickie Fowler, who started the week 63rd, posted a bogey-free 65 to sit at 6 under alongside Emiliano Grillo (71st), Kurt Kitayama and a handful of others. Fowler has been building form, with a T7 at the Memorial, a T18 at the John Deere and a T14 at The Open, and his message after the round was simple.

"Good golf solves a lot of things," Fowler said, per the PGA TOUR.

Fowler also said the first goal is getting to the BMW Championship by moving inside the top 50. Max Homa, who began the week 102nd, opened with a 66 to sit at 5 under. Gary Woodland (78th) and Patrick Rodgers (66th) each shot 67, while Cam Davis (65th) managed a 71 and has work to do on Friday.

Soft Course, Big Numbers

Defending champion Jhonattan Vegas opened with a 68. Haotong Li, who played in the final group with Scottie Scheffler at The Open, posted a 70. Neither shot is bad on most courses. On a soft TPC Twin Cities with the field going low, both are already chasing.

That is the lesson of Thursday. When greens are this receptive, par is a loss, and the cut line on Friday is going to be steep.

What Friday Brings

Svensson has a two-shot cushion and a scorecard he will want framed. The question now is whether a player who has fought his game all year can back up a career round with something solid on Friday. Stevens and Olesen are two back, Gotterup is three back with the hottest form in the field, and a deep pack of players at 6 and 7 under knows exactly how gettable this course is.

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab).

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 1 recap, Rickie Fowler story and leaderboard), AP, Minnesota Star Tribune, CBS Sports. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.