Story perspectives

Scheffler chases first 2026 win; model picks Keefer, Kohles

7/22/2026

Summary

Scheffler Targets 3M

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (5/2) seeks his first 2026 PGA Tour win at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota.
Defending champion Kurt Kitayama (23-1) sits 32nd in the FedEx Cup standings and hopes to retain his Tour Championship spot.

Summary

McClure Flags

SportsLine's model, built by Mike McClure, simulated the 3M Open 10,000 times.
The model flagged Stanford’s McNealy (+2700) as a likely underperformer because of recent missed cuts and a 113th rank in approach strokes gained.
It highlighted Johnny Keefer (+6000) for his second-best greens-in-regulation rate and three recent top-10 finishes.
It noted Kohles ranks fourth in approach, sixth from tee-to-green and leads in greens-in-regulation, making a top-10 plausible.

History

Historical Context

The World Golf Championships became a WGC event in 2009, using qualification categories that echo the PGA Tour’s later FedEx Cup. Since its 2005 debut at Shanghai’s Sheshan Golf Club, the WGC-HSBC Champions purse rose from $5 million to $10.25 million by 2019, and its field pulls the top-50 world-ranked players and leading tour order-of-merit qualifiers.

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Scheffler Targets 3M

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (5/2) seeks his first 2026 PGA Tour win at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minnesota.
Defending champion Kurt Kitayama (23-1) sits 32nd in the FedEx Cup standings and hopes to retain his Tour Championship spot.

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