As the season winds down, experts measure patience, aggression

BLAINE, Minn. — It's easy for pros to argue when the PGA Tour schedule closes in August. In the game of golf, patience is key. Play your game, stick to the plan, the points will come. Everyone knows that.

But this time of year, what if they don't? The 3M Open is the pinnacle event of the PGA Tour's regular season, and many of the players in this week's field know exactly where they sit in the FedEx Cup standings.

The PGA Tour is off next week for the Olympics, but the following week is the season-ending Wyndham Championship. After that, the top 70 in the standings are guaranteed their 2025 PGA Tour card and advance to the first stop of the lucrative FedEx Cup Playoffs. Top 50 after FedEx St. Jude Championship move on to the BMW Championship – the last event before the season-ending Tour Championship – and those 50 are also given places everything For 2024 Signature Events. This is where professionals make big money.

“Patience is important here whether it's winning golf tournaments, making cuts, trying to keep your card to try to get into the top 30,” said Matt NeSmith, who shot a seven-under 64 on Friday and stayed 10. under 36 holes, good for the clubhouse lead with the afternoon tide still on the way. He is currently 132nd in the FedEx Cup standings but could make a big move with a strong weekend finish. “I think it affects everyone here. You never know when you're going to get hot, you never know when good golf is coming. Just try and be patient, try to keep a cool head and you never know what will happen. “

But how patient can you be when your rounds are counted and there are birds to chase? On the other hand, is being overly aggressive a recipe for disaster? It would be at a place like TPC Twin Cities, where water (on 15 of 18 holes) is everywhere and the wind is high (as it is now).

Since the 3M Open began in 2019, it has consistently produced some of the highest water polo scores on Tour. In fact, there are so many on only 18, for every ball that lands on the par-5, the tournament offers a dozen on the First Tee.

And the later we get to the tournament, the more players press. Not just placing the FedEx Cup, but winning. Last year, JT Poston and Lee Hodges tied for 18th on Sunday with Hodges leading Poston by three (and Poston three out of three). After his drive ended up near the water and under his feet, Poston opted to drive to the green from 214 yards out. His ball hit the rocks in front of the green and landed in the water. He did 8 and later said, “We're not here to finish second.”

“I respect the hell out of him,” Hodges, the defending champion, said Wednesday at a pre-tournament press conference. “He was trying to make an eagle; as if there is no order in his game.”

There are plenty of opportunities for those who win this weekend, but they also have to balance when patience needs to turn into artificial or lethal aggression to change the week, or the season.

Doug Ghim, who shot a 64 on Friday, said patience on Tour is a learned skill.

“I've definitely become a better player and patience is probably the first thing, I'm just trying to get better,” Friday said. “I think that in our game it's very difficult week by week because it's one game at a time, one winner, it's hard not to lose patience or get depressed sometimes when things don't go the way you'd like and maybe some of the boys who grew up [with] they are starting to win and you are waiting for your turn.”

Rookie Jacob Bridgeman, who shot a 63 on Thursday, will be in contention (he's currently 135th in the standings) this weekend. It's the same for Ghim and Lanto Griffin, both eight under and both fighting for position. There are also veterans like Matt Kuchar, who is seven years younger and in contention for 36 to play.

Ranked 155th, Kuchar, 46, is the only player to have never missed the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He could still pull off a strong weekend and another big finish at Wyndham, if he decides to play for it.

As for this weekend, it will be windy (10-16 mph) with gusts over 25 mph possible. That means a lot is possible.

“If it stays like this when the wind is strong, you have to put together a game plan where there is no violence and you have to manage the game better,” said Jhonattan Vegas, who is eight years younger. . “We'll see what the weather gives us and go from there.”

Josh Behow

Golf.com Editor

As managing editor of GOLF.com, Berhow manages the day-to-day and long-term programming of one of the most widely read news and service websites in the sport. He spends most of his days writing, planning, organizing and wondering if he will ever break 80. Before joining GOLF.com in 2015, he worked at newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa. A graduate of Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minn., he lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and two children. You can reach him at [email protected].