Adam Svensson made the most of soft conditions at TPC Twin Cities on Thursday.
The Canadian shot an 11-under 60 to take first place alone after the early wave of the first round of the 3M Open in Blaine, Minn.
Svensson sits 107th in the FedEx Cup rankings with two weeks remaining before the playoffs. Only the top 70 advance to the first round, meaning he needs a big result or two to get into to the big-money playoffs.
On Thursday, the Surrey, B.C., golfer did his best to ensure he’d have a shot of sneaking into that range as preferred lies were in effect following rainfall a day earlier.
Svensson made five birdies on the front nine and three more consecutively to begin the back nine to sit 8 under through 12 holes at the par-71 course.
However, his hopes of carding an elusive 59 stalled out with three straight pars from holes 13 through 15. A birdie on 16 gave him one last glimmer of hope — needing a birdie-eagle finish for the under-60 round — until a par on the par-3 17th quickly dashed it. Svensson made eagle on the par-5 18th to leap into first alone.
Sam Stevens, who sat second after the early wave after shooting a 9-under 62, arrived at the par-5 18th needing eagle for a 59, but incurred a penalty after putting his second in the water and carded a 6 on the hole.
Canada’s Ben Silverman fired a 5-under 66 for his round, while fellow Canadians Adam Hadwin, Taylor Pendrith and Mackenzie Hughes were also in the field.
Silverman and Hadwin were both well outside the top 70 entering the 3M, while Pendrith was 37th and Hughes sat 60th.
