Steve Palmer's 3M Open first-round preview and free golf betting tips

Where to watch the 3M Open

Sky Sports Golf, 7pm Thursday

Best bets

Emiliano Grillo top Argentinian (1-2) and Cam Davis top Australian (10-11)
2pts double Hills

Taylor Pendrith to win 2.24pm threeball
2pts Evens general

3M Open first-round preview

Justin Thomas can be backed at 21-10 to miss the 3M Open cut – and that may prove too tempting for some punters to turn down.

Thomas has missed four of his last six cuts, including at the Open last week after he opened with a round of 82. He has dropped to 20th in the world rankings, but the man himself is not panicking, insisting his scores are worse than he is actually playing.

All things considered, the odds can be left alone, as Thomas could find the forgiving terrain of Twin Cities the perfect place to build confidence. Preference is for a double on the 'tops' markets, with Emiliano Grillo and Cam Davis expected to boss their sections.

Grillo, who won at Colonial in May, could be proud of his Open performance last week. Sixth place at Hoylake was his best result in a Major and a sign of growing self-belief.

Grillo, third on his 3M Open debut in 2020 and second last year, should end up a cosy winner of the top Argentinian market this week, with only Augusto Nunez and Tano Goya to beat, while Davis seems a worthy odds-on favourite for top Australian.

The sweet-swinging Sydneyite has Aaron Baddeley, Cameron Percy, Daniel Gale and Harrison Endycott to beat. It is difficult to see any of that quartet contending for the title, but Davis has been doing so in some high-class events and he is well suited to Twin Cities.

Pick of the threeballs is arguably Taylor Pendrith to beat Dylan Frittelli and Russell Knox. Pendrith, the best ball-striker in the field when finishing sixth in the Barbasol the week before last, should find Twin Cities to his liking. Frittelli is in abysmal nick, while Knox has failed to post a top-30 finish this year.

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