PGA Tour: Michael Thompson shares lead at 3M Open

Michael Thompson has put together two solid rounds at the 3M Open. Can he keep it up this weekend and earn his second PGA Tour win?

Michael Thompson has had his share of struggles on the PGA Tour in 2020. But after two rounds at the 3M Open, Thompson has a share of the lead and is looking forward to a weekend that could change his entire season.

Thompson, who played college golf at Alabama, is in his 10th year on tour. He has one career win on tour, which came at the 2013 Honda Classic. Thompson has spent most of his career on the borderline of making, or not making, the FedEx Cup playoffs.

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This season started off very slowly for Thompson. He only made the cut in three of his first 10 events this season. And when he did make the cut, he wasn’t really having any significant finishes. He best finish through those events was a tie for 23rd at the Safeway Open in September.

Thompson was able to make the cut and finish 57th at the Honda Classic in March and was in the Players Championship field when the event was canceled due to the coronavirus. That left him with four cuts made in 11 events.

However, the break from the pandemic seemed to do Thompson some good.

Since returning, he has made the cut in three of four events and has recorded his best finish of the season. That came in his first event back, the RBC Heritage, where Thompson tied for eighth place.

Since then, he has tied for 46th at the Travelers Championship and tied for 64th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. He did miss the cut at the Workday Charity Open.

The 35-year-old Thompson opened the event in Blaine, Minnesota, with a 7-under par 64 on Thursday. That left him just one shot behind first round leader Richy Werenski.

On Friday, Thompson had a solid round of golf and now finds himself tied with Werenski for the 36-hole lead at the 3M. His front nine was quite symmetrical in nature. He started with three pars, had three birdies in the middle, then finished with three more pars. Altogether, he ended with a 3-under par 32 on his first nine.

After a par at the 10th hole, Thompson birdied number 11 to get to 4-under on his round. However, he has some trouble around the green on the par-5 12th hole and ended up with what would be his only bogey of the day.

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Thompson would par the 13th hole and birdie the 14th, getting back to 4-under in the process. After pars at 15 and 16, Thompson made a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th hole to get to five under par. A par on the 18th would leave him with a 5-under par 66 on the day and a tie for the lead.

If Thompson can hold on this weekend and win, it would be a big boost not only to his season, but to his career. There are still 36 holes to play, but he finds himself in prime position heading to the weekend.

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