Adam Svensson shoots 60 with ‘the best putting round I ever had,’ leads 3M Open

Amid a lousy season, Canadian Adam Svensson putted nearly perfectly Thursday, when his 11-under-par 60 set a 3M Open tournament record and gave him a two-shot lead after one round.

The 31-year-old had missed the cut in 11 of 21 tournaments he started this season and had won $272,128 before he arrived at the TPC Twin Cities in Blaine for an early tee time.

Then Svensson went out and made nine birdies, no bogeys and a closing eagle. Most of them came courtesy of a sizzling putter with which he made 194 feet, 2 inches of putts — including that 48-foot, 7-inch for eagle.

Svensson credited a productive and early practice session for putting him — and his putter — in the mood and his caddie for keeping him there.

“I had a great range session today,” Svensson said. “Just really putted amazing, I made a bunch of breakers. It was probably the best putting round I ever had so I’m pretty happy.”

Svensson posted that morning 60 on a soft, soaked course that nobody else, not even third-generation pro Sam Stevens and Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen, could match. They each shot a 9-under 62, the previous tournament record held jointly by Scott Piercy, Bryson DeChambeau, Matthew Wolff, Lucas Glover and Beau Hossler. Svensson’s 60 tied the TPC Twin Cities course record set by Paul Goydos in August 2017 during a 3M Championship senior event.

Chad Ramey, Matti Schmid and recent Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup each shot 63. All are chasing Svensson as well as FedExCup playoff points.

“Enough for this week, and then probably going to need a recharge,” Gotterup said.

Fan favorite Rickie Fowler is tied for 11th after shooting a 65 on Thursday.

“Svensson put together a nice round,” Fowler said. “It was definitely out there. A lot of birdies to be made. But at the same time, there’s a few holes you have to keep your guard up and make sure you execute.”

Svensson’s eagle putt was his morning in the extreme. That long putt went to the left at first, then moved back to the right before dropping into the cup.

Svensson shot 30 on each nine. He said he felt a not-so-familiar feeling on the range before he stepped to the first tee with Kurt Kitayama and Fargo’s Tom Hoge in the morning’s fifth threesome.

He said he made changes to help him play better on Sundays, when he gets that far.

“I tried not to change my swing but just figure out something that I can improve over the weekend,” Svensson said. “I feel like I start off good and then kind of dwindle a little bit, so I’ve been working on that.”

Stevens has two top-10 and eight top-25 finishes this season and tied for 23rd at last month’s U.S. Open at Oakmont. He, too, flirted with the course record Thursday and admitted he thought about that magical 59 number.

Stevens, son and grandson of professional golfers, birdied the 16th, just missed a 30-footer for another birdie at the 17th and chose a 3-iron over a 3-wood that didn’t clear the watery 18th hole on his second shot. He made a bogey at the par-5 and still shot 62.

“I figured that was best chance to shoot 59, so I gave it a go,” said Stevens, who was cheered on by his four young sons. “Made a nice up-and-down for 6, so I guess that’s a positive. Not the best way to finish a round, but I took a crack at it.”