Players look for potential career-changing win at 3M Open
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Players look for potential career-changing win at 3M Open

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It’s easy for golf fans to fall asleep the week after a major, especially with the long flight from England to Minneapolis for a lot of the players in the field this week. Players are often divided on getting back to competition so soon after a grueling week at The Open.

Louis Oosthuizen kept his spot in the field this week as he thought the best way to get over yet another close call at a major championship was to return to tournament play as soon as possible.

Some of the best players in the world can easily lose focus during a week like this—Patrick Reed labored through two straight rounds of one-under 70 and world number two Dustin Johnson joins him on the cutline as Friday’s second round continues.

A couple unfamiliar names have made their way to the top of the leaderboard at TPC Twin Cities, as these players remind you just how precious every single shot on the PGA Tour is.

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32-year old Ohio State alum Bo Hoag finds himself in contention after rounds of 66 and 67 to begin the week. Hoag is coming off his best finish of the season as he finished T11 at last week’s Barbasol Championship.

Hoag has just one career top-10 finish on the PGA Tour and currently sits in the all-important 125th position in the FedEx Cup standings. A solid weekend will go a long way towards keeping his card for next season. That’s a lot of pressure, but that is nothing new for Hoag.

“I feel like I'm always playing under pressure. No matter where you are, you always want something,” Hoag said. “I've just been doing it my whole life, so just kind of playing some more rounds under pressure on the PGA TOUR. Something I enjoy.”

Like a lot of PGA Tour events, TPC Twin Cities should produce a lot of low scores this weekend, and Hoag knows he needs to keep the gas pedal down.

“You only have one option. You know you're going to have to shoot a good round or else you're going to get left behind,” Hoag said. “There's no real guessing game. Just got to be pretty aggressive with the scoring clubs in your hands and try to make some birdies out there.”

Jhonattan Vegas is looking for his first win since the 2017 RBC Canadian Open and he has himself in contention through 36 holes this week. Vegas followed up a flawless 64 with a two-under par 69 Friday.

Vegas knows he needs to go low, but he maintained that he needs to remain patient on a golf course like this. It’s always difficult to follow up a particularly low round, but Vegas is continuing to try to piece things together.

“At the end of the day, and especially coming off a good round, you've just got to try to piece another good round together,” Vegas said. “You can't get too impatient around any golf course because you're going to pay for it. You've got to take advantage of the holes that you've got to take advantage of and try to piece together a good round. The conditions are not easy, you still have to hit really good shots around this place. Obviously if you hit it well and you make a few putts, you can shoot low.”

About the author

Peter Santo

Peter Santo is a golf writer and a graduate of Emerson College. He previously covered all sports for The Boston Globe, Associated Press, and The Washington Times.

When not writing about or playing golf, he can often be found listening to or creating country music.

He can be reached by email at petersanto1129@gmail.com

Follow him on Twitter @_PeterSanto