Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2022 3M Open

2022 3M Open Fantasy Sleeper Report

The superlatives have come rolling in for Cameron Smith following his British Open victory, and with good reason.

The Australian’s blitz of St Andrews’ back nine was historic and mesmerizing, with five birdies in a row breaking major records and a sixth helping him to complete victory ahead of Cameron Young and 54-hole joint leader Rory McIlroy.

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Smith’s score of -20 was a record for the British Open, and means he now has the scoring record at St Andrews and Kapalua, has a win at TPC Sawgrass to his name and a runner-up finish in The Masters – he’s well on track to become one of Australia’s finest ever players.

He will likely now turn his attentions to the FedEx Cup, with five weeks left to play ahead of the season-ending TOUR Championship.

The first of the set-up events is this week’s 3M Open, where a customarily weak field will try to cash in and bank some much needed points for the race to the finish line.

Hideki Matsuyama, Tony Finau and Sungjae Im will make the long trip from Scotland to take up sportsbook favoritism, and it will be interesting to see if any of them can emulate Louis Oosthuizen 12 months ago. 

He belied jet lag to finish T2 at the 3M Open, although he was unable to overhaul Cameron Champ, who overcame heat exhaustion and dehydration to grind out his third PGA TOUR title – his first top-10 finish in more than six months.

TPC Twin Cities takes on hosting duties. Located in Blaine, Minnesota, this venue was designed by Arnold Palmer and Tom Lehman, who were in generous mood when they designed the expansive fairways and greens that give the players plenty of margin for error. 

It’s a beautiful course to look at, with a number of water features and lush green landscapes, and as the players embark on a mission to find the 22+ birdies they will likely need to post a winning score.

These post-major weeks are usually ripe for a long odds winner, and the 3M Open has been particularly handy for sleeper backers – Champ (80/1), Michael Thompson (125/1) and Matthew Wolff (125/1) all doing the business in the past three years.

So, who will be 2022’s underdog story at the 3M Open? Let’s take a look at our sleeper shortlist.

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Adam Svensson – 50/1 – The Canadian’s star continues to rise, and he looks to be a particularly interesting fit for TPC Twin Cities.

A player who ranks 46th on TOUR for SG: Approach who has gained strokes on the field putting in his last seven starts has to be of interest, and within that span Svensson three top-25 finishes and a solo sixth at the Barbasol Championship.

T15 in his last start at TPC Twin Cities in 2019, Svensson may not recall the track that closely, but he has prospered here before and, given his numbers, can do so again in 2022.

Wyndham Clark – 55/1 – Here’s a relatively fun fact – we had Wyndham Clark in our daily fantasy draft for this event 12 months ago at 200/1….and he rewarded us grandly by missing the cut.

But it goes without saying that a player who averages 318 yards off the tee has a huge advantage when approaching firm, fast greens – they can hit more lofted clubs in, for starters – and so the blueprint is there for Wyndham Clark to thrive.

Amazingly, Clark is better approaching out of the rough than he is from the short grass, but even so we’re going to take another chance on a player who impressed at the Scottish Open amongst elite company.

Emiliano Grillo – 60/1 – An outstanding driver of the ball and excellent with mid-range approaches, Emiliano Grillo is – like plenty of others in the world of golf – a flusher who generally loses strokes on the greens.

But the Argentine bagged a whopping +0.94 on the field with his flat stick on the Bentgrass greens of TPC Deere Run on his way to a T2 finish, and even though he missed the cut at the British Open he also gained strokes relative to the field putting at St Andrews.

There’s reasons to be positive then – particularly for a player who finished T3 at TPC Twin Cities in 2020.

Dylan Frittelli – 66/1 – Although a somewhat frustrating sort for bettors to have on board, Dylan Frittelli does offer plenty of upside at his best.

His T28 at the British Open is testament to that, with that result coming a week after he had struck the ball beautifully at the Scottish Open and a fortnight since he gained a mammoth +1.21 strokes on the field putting at the John Deere Classic.

The South African makes stacks of cuts, but he doesn’t kick on as often as he should to bank those payouts for bettors – maybe this week the stars will align.

C.T. Pan – 70/1 – If we go back to the Mexico Open on May 1, C.T. Pan has played six events and gained strokes on the field both on approach and putting in five of them.

That’s why the sportsbooks respect him, because they know that a big performance is – surely – on the horizon.

With form at correlating courses and excellence from the 175-200 yard mark, Pan has the tools to thrive at TPC Twin Cities.

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Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the 3M Open here.

Sleeper Report Predictions This Season (2021-2022)

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