Thorbjorn Olesen and Akshay Bhatia Lead the 3M Open After Thrilling Day
In an exciting third round of the 3M Open, Thorbjorn Olesen and Akshay Bhatia placed themselves at the top of the leaderboard, promising a suspenseful tournament finish. Olesen, with an outstanding performance that included a hole-in-one, and Bhatia, with a round full of birdies, demonstrated their skill on the course. Olesen, the 35-year-old Danish player, who was leading after the second round, achieved an impressive hole-in-one on the 8th hole, using a 6-iron on the 209-yard par 3. “It was a shot with spin. I just felt I couldn’t reach with a 7, so we opted for a soft 6-iron,” Olesen commented.Bhatia, for his part, signed a card of 63 strokes, reaching a total of 18 under par and placing himself in a privileged position for the final round. “I made two chip-ins, I made a lot of putts,” said Bhatia. “A lot of putts went in, which was very good to see. Overall, a pretty solid round. I felt like I did a good job playing from the rough today. I didn’t hit it particularly well off the tee, but fortunately the greens are soft enough that you can do that.” Kurt Kitayama tied the tournament and course record with an impressive round of 60 strokes, finishing before Olesen and Jake Knapp began their round in the final group, reaching 17 under par. Japanese player Takumi Kanaya (65) also placed at 17 under par along with Knapp (67) and Sam Stevens (66). Olesen, after his hole-in-one, had a bogey on the 9th hole. In the second round, he got birdies on holes 13 and 14, a bogey on the 15th, a birdie on the par 4 of the 16th and pars on the last two holes. The winner of eight European Tour titles is looking for his first PGA Tour title.Obviously, he took the slope perfectly, a great advantage to see him enter. It’s been a long time since I had one.
Thorbjorn Olesen
Bhatia, the 23-year-old Californian player with two PGA Tour victories, made a birdie from 42 feet on the fifth hole and another birdie from 55 feet on the 11th.Obviously, it’s different and it’s a great opportunity. I’m not going to lie, there will be a lot of pressure, but I felt that in my career I have dealt with pressure quite well. Obviously, the victories on the DP World Tour, but also the Ryder Cups.
Thorbjorn Olesen
Kitayama tied the tournament record set by Adam Svensson in the first round. Paul Goydos also shares the course record, with a round of 60 strokes at the 2017 3M Championship on the PGA Tour Champions. Kitayama achieved 12 birdies and one bogey. He played the first nine holes in 7 under par, with an impressive score of 28. “Just go out there,” Kitayama said. “I don’t think you really have a number going into any round, you just take what you can get.” Knapp had a bogey on the 17th hole, his only bogey of the week. The NCAA winner, Michael La Sasso, from Mississippi, tied for 16th place with 13 under par after a round of 63. The amateur did not make the cut last week at the Barracuda Championship.I’m just trying to play solid golf and hope the cards fall my way tomorrow.
Akshay Bhatia
