BLAINE, Minnesota — Ben Kohles eagled the final hole for a 9-under 62 and a two-shot lead after the first round of the 3M Open, leaving top-ranked Scottie Scheffler three shots back.
Emiliano Grillo, Jackson Koivun and Gary Woodland opened with 64s, and Scheffler topped the group at 65 in his first appearance in the event.
Coming off a fourth-place finish Sunday in the British Open, Scheffler was 1 under through eight holes, then birdied five of the next eight.
“I didn´t hit a bunch of fairways early, but I was able to kind of manage my way around and get out of some trouble areas without making any bogeys. That was important keeping my momentum going,” he said according to AP.
“Once I started to hit fairways and gave myself some looks, was able to start making some birdies.”
Kohles´ second shot from 241 yards out on the par-5 finishing hole settled 4 feet from the cup. The short putt capped a career-best round for the 36-year-old who has split the season between the PGA and Korn Ferry tours.
In a nine-hole stretch beginning on No. 6, he birdied every other hole and added another birdie at No. 15 to tie for the lead at 7 under. “I was just in control all day,” he said.
Three weeks ago, Kohles nearly got his first career win, but a double bogey on the final hole resulted in a third-place finish at the John Deere Classic.
“Of course you would like the outcome to be different, but you´ve just got to keep putting the pedal down and see where you go,” he said.
