2021 3M Open: Scott Stallings Blows Chance at Course Record
By Tim Letcher
Scott Stallings had a fantastic day on Thursday at the 2021 3M Open. It was almost a record-setting day, if not for his final hole.
The round was not anything spectacular at the beginning. Stallings opened his tournament by carding pars on the first four holes of his round.
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But starting on the par-4 fifth hole, Stallings fortunes changed. There, Stallings made a 12-foot birdie putt to get into red figures.
Then, on the par-5 sixth hole, Stallings hit the green in two and had a legitimate shot at eagle. His putt, from about 15 feet, just missed and Stallings settled for birdie to get to 2-under par.
On the par-4 seventh hole, Stallings hit his approach shot to about 10 feet. He would make the birdie, his third in a row. He would shoot a 3-under par 33 on his front side.
The back nine was much more eventful for Stallings.
He was red-hot at the beginning of his inward nine. He birdied the 10th hole. Then he birdied the 11th. Then the 12th and the 13th. Four birdies in a row got him to 7-under par and into the early lead.
Stallings carded his only par on his second nine on the par-4 14th hole. He then birdied the par-4 15th hole to get to 8-under on his round.
On the par-4 16th hole, Stallings slipped up just a bit. He suffered his first bogey of the day to drop back to 7-under par.
But he bounced right back on the par-3 17th hole. His tee shot left him less than five feet for birdie. He made the putt to get back to 8-under par.
As he approached the 18th hole, Stallings had a chance to tie, or break, the course record (62 held by Bryson DeChambeau and Matthew Wolff). A birdie would get him to that number.
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His tee shot was ideal, landing in the fairway and giving him 234 yards to the hole. But his second shot came up short and landed in the water. After a drop, Stallings hit his fourth shot over the green. And from there, he needed three to get down, suffering a double bogey.
That left Stallings with a 6-under par 65 on the day. But it also left him asking what could have been.