Steve Palmer's 3M Open final-round preview, best bets, free golf tips

Where to watch

Sky Sports Golf red button, 1pm Sunday

Best bets

Tony Finau to win 5.24pm threeball
2pts 6-5 bet365, Coral, Ladbrokes

Wyndham Clark to win 4.11pm threeball
1pt 13-10 general

Advised yesterday

Tony Finau to win the 3M Open
3pts each-way 11-2 general

Story so far

Scott Piercy maintained his 3M Open lead with a third-round 66, moving to 18 under par, becoming a general 8-11 chance for victory at TPC Twin Cities, Minnesota.

Piercy, a three-time PGA Tour champion who has not won for more than seven years, is four shots ahead of Emiliano Grillo. Piercy bogeyed the 18th hole in round three, finding water with his second shot, so the 43-year-old encouraged the chasing pack.

Tony Finau, the pre-tournament favourite, is tied for third place. The Ryder Cup star has a five-shot Sunday deficit to deal with. Storms meant Saturday tee-times were changed and the players are staying in threeballs for the finale.

Piercy, Grillo and Doug Ghim are scheduled to tee off at 5.35pm UK and Ireland time in the final threeball.

Leaderboard
-18 Scott Piercy
-14 Emiliano Grillo
-13 Doug Ghim, Tony Finau
-12 Tom Hoge
-11 Greyson Sigg, Sungjae Im

Best prices
8-11 S Piercy, 5 T Finau, 11-2 E Grillo, 10 D Ghim, 20 T Hoge, 22 S Im, 50 bar

Final-round preview

Scott Piercy was five under par for his first seven holes of round three, but failed to advance his score from there to the clubhouse, inviting pressure from behind.

The leader seems vulnerable given his long victory drought and how wild he can get off the tee. Piercy has ridden a hot putter this week - he tops the putting stats - but his driving has been shaky. There definitely seems scope for Sunday problems.

Emiliano Grillo has not won since the 2015 Frys.com Open, becoming a regular letdown to his supporters. The Argentinian birdied the 18th hole of round three and will be thrilled to be only four shots behind, but it is difficult to trust Grillo to hold his nerve when it matters.

The Sunday morning advice is the same as that given on Saturday - Tony Finau seems well capable of reeling in Piercy and Grillo and taking the trophy.

Finau, who finished third in the 2020 3M Open at Twin Cities, seems ultra comfortable with this layout and has been making the game look easy from tee to green. He has dropped only one shot all week, setting up chance after chance, but suffering on the greens.

Finau is 70th in the putting stats, underlining what a frustrating week it has been for his backers. There seems little doubt that he will have regular birdie putts in round four, so it is just a question of whether the putter behaves.

If Finau sees a putt drop early, his five-shot deficit could be quickly wiped out. With moderate breezes forecast for the final round, the tee-to-green solidity of Finau will count for more, while Piercy's errant driving could be more seriously punished.

Faith remains in Finau, then, and 5-1 seems a more than fair price for anyone yet to get involved. Final-round threeball punters are pointed towards Finau, who can see off Greyson Sigg and Tom Hoge in the 5.24pm contest, while Wyndham Clark represents good value against Scott Brown and Michael Gligic in the 4.11pm group.

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