Low scores were once again the story of the day at TPC Twin Cities, but a day after setting the course record with a 60, Adam Svensson struggled with a second round 75. With the leader faltering, the field condensed at the top of the leaderboard and there are now 23 players within five shots of the lead heading into the weekend.
At the top is Thorbjørn Olesen, as he backed up his opening 62 with a second-round 66 to move the lead out to 14 under. Olesen is one of the many players who entered the week needing a win to move into the FedEx Cup Playoffs, and after starting the week 129th in the points, he’s halfway to punching his ticket to the top 70 and a spot in the St. Jude Classic.
Jake Knapp leads the chase group at 13 under, as he continues to put himself in contention at PGA Tour events in pursuit of his second career win. Knapp leads the field in driving, picking up over 3.8 strokes on the field off the tee this week, using his length as a weapon at TPC Twin Cities.
The biggest names floating around the top of the leaderboard are back in T8 at 10 under. Wyndham Clark fired a 6-under 65 to move up on Friday and give himself a shot at his first win of the year. Chris Gotterup stalled out a bit with a 69, but he is once again on the first page of the leaderboard heading into the weekend.
Akshay Bhatia fired his second 66 of the week to join that group, and Joel Dahmen is trending towards one of his best finishes of the season after a 65, as he looks to claw his way further inside the top 100 after starting the week in a precarious position in 99th. The round of the day belonged to Alex Noren, who moved from outside the cut line to the group at T10 with a 62.
Coming into Friday, Max Homa and Rickie Fowler looked like threats, but neither could maintain their pace from Thursday and slipped outside the top 20. Homa is in T24 at 8 under after a 68, while Fowler slid back to T32 at 7 under after a lackluster 70. Both will need to produce something spectacular on Saturday to be part of the final round conversation.
The leader
1. Thorbjørn Olesen (-14): Olesen can help his cause tremendously this week with a win or even a top 5 finish. Winning would push him inside the top 60 and into the playoffs, while a top 5 gives him a strong chance to move into the top 100 to retain his full-time status on the PGA Tour for 2026. He’s still got a long way to go, but for a guy who started the week in 129th, he’s done everything he possibly could to give himself a chance at his first career win and a trip to the playoffs.
Contenders
2. Jake Knapp (-13)
T3. Pierceson Coody, Sam Stevens (-12)
T5. Matti Schmid, Chris Kirk, Takumi Kanaya (-11)
T8. Wyndham Clark, Chris Gotterup, Akshay Bhatia, Joel Dahmen, Emiliano Grillo and four others (-10)
T17. Luke Clanton and six others (-9)
T24. Max Homa and seven others (-8)
T32. Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland and 10 others (-7)
Knapp has been playing well of late, though he’s struggled to put together four full rounds. We saw that at the Canadian and Scottish Opens where he was in the hunt going into Sunday but fell off the pace with an over par final round. He’s once again right there going into the weekend and he’ll be looking to put together a complete tournament to capture his second career win.
Stevens has had a rock solid season so far. He has been sensational on and around the greens the first two days, and if he can keep the putter hot he will be a threat for his first career victory. Coody, the former Texas standout, is still trying to find his footing on the Tour; he is in position to notch one of the best finishes of his young career.
Schmid, Kirk and Grillo all entered the week on the playoff bubble, but they are playing their way into a solid top 70 position. And then there are the three big threats at 10 under in Clark, Gotterup and Bhatia. That trio has short live odds and are the guys the oddsmakers like to make the biggest move on the weekend.
Clanton continues to produce some solid results as he gets more comfortable on Tour, while veterans Homa, Burns, Fowler and Woodland are all hoping to create something special on Saturday to give themselves a look at another PGA Tour title.
Notable players who missed the cut
- Davis Riley (-4)
- Haotong Li (-4)
- Jacob Bridgeman (-3)
- Byeong Hun An (-3)
- Max Greyserman (-3)
- Keith Mitchell (-3)
- Sahith Theegala (-2)
- Davis Thompson (-2)
- Si Woo Kim (-2)
- Sungjae Im (E)
- Maverick McNealy (E)
- Cam Davis (+1)
- Erik van Rooyen (+2)
- Michael Thorbjornsen (+3)
- Tony Finau (+4)
- Tom Hoge (+10)
The low scores this week set the cut line at 5 under, and a number of players hoping for a strong performance this week were sent home packing on Friday. Maverick McNealy, Sungjae Im, Tom Hoge and Jacob Bridgeman were among the highest ranked players in the standings in the field this week, but they all will miss the weekend. Keith Mitchell and Byeong Hun An both dropped out of the all-important top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings by missing the cut and will now have to play their way in next week at the Wyndham Championship. Cam Davis fell down to the 69thth spot after starting the week 65th, while van Rooyen slipped to 66th, creating some stress for both
2025 3M Open updated odds, picks
Odds via DraftKings
- Thorbjørn Olesen (9/2)
- Jake Knapp (9/2)
- Sam Stevens (10-1)
- Pierceson Coody (10-1)
- Chris Gotterup (12-1)
- Wyndham Clark (14-1)
- Akshay Bhatia (18-1)
- Matti Schmid (18-1)
- Luke Clanton (22-1)
- Chris Kirk (22-1)
- Emiliano Grillo (22-1)
I liked Knapp after the opening round and still think he’s my personal favorite to win, but the value is starting to go away there on the odds sheet — especially given his difficulties on Sunday. Of the chase group, I like Bhatia as a guy who can go really low when he gets the putter hot, but also has a higher floor than some of the others in the mix. Kirk has also been around a lot of leaderboards this year and I feel like he’s going to stay on the first page all the way til the end.
