There will be no Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlory or Xander Schauffele this week at TPC Twin Cities for the 3M Open. That’s become the expectation. Minnesota’s PGA Tour stop isn’t a “signature event” with an elevated purse and, essentially, a mandate from the tour for all of the top talents to show up and compete.
Instead, the 3M Open is the week after The Open and, this year, a week before the men’s Olympic competition in France. It’s unrealistic to expect the premier names of the PGA Tour to make a round trip across the pond to play this week in Blaine.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t intriguing players competing this week. Justin Rose and Billy Horschel will both tee it up after they tied for second behind Schauffele at The Open over the weekend. Sam Burns, Tony Finau and Keegan Bradley are all established, high-end players who are consistently in the mix for PGA Tour wins and are regularly in contention for spots on U.S. international teams.
And then there are the young guns — the names the casual golf observer may not yet recognize but likely soon will. Think about the inaugural 3M Open in 2019, when Collin Morikawa was in the final pairing on Sunday, falling by just one stroke to Matthew Wolff, and Viktor Hovland finished in a tie for 13th. Those two were well on their way to superstardom right out of college.
The same can potentially be true of a handful of young players descending upon the Twin Cities this week. Here’s a look at some of the young talents set to play in this week’s event.
AKSHAY BHATIA
Yes, Bhatia is a top-30 player in the world, currently ranked No. 28 in the Official World Golf Rankings. But that doesn’t mean he’s still not an ascending young star. At age 22, Bhatia is still younger than a couple of players to follow on this list. He’s simply been around the pro game longer after making the rare decision to forego collegiate competition — and, thus, amateur — five years ago when he was 17.
The rise to stardom wasn’t quick or linear from there, but he’s finally reached it. Bhatia has a pair of PGA Tour wins over the last 12-plus months, most recently winning the Texas Open in April. He has top-five finishes in two of his last three starts.
He doesn’t yet have the major championship performance to elevate his name to household status, but that only feels like a matter of time.
LUKE CLANTON
Clanton currently is the No. 2 amateur player in the world at the age of 20. He just wrapped up his sophomore season at Florida State and has no intentions of turning pro anytime soon, even as he lights up the top professional golf tour.
Clanton has played in four PGA Tour events this year, including the U.S. Open, and made the cut each time. Two of those finishes were top 10s, a tie for 10th at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Michigan and a tie for second at the John Deere Classic just three weeks ago in Illinois.
Of his 16 rounds of pro golf this summer, he has carded 11 rounds in the 60s.
Clanton intends to return to Florida State for his junior year in pursuit of an NCAA team title, but he’s already showing that he’s more than capable of contending with the world’s best on the biggest stages in the here and now.
NICK DUNLAP
Like Clanton, Nick Dunlap was supposed to have a spring sophomore season — at the University of Alabama. That never came to fruition, due to Dunlap’s stunning success.
Playing as an amateur, Dunlap won the PGA Tour’s American Express Championship in January, earning him a full two-year PGA Tour exemption should he decide to turn pro. He couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Suddenly, the 20-year-old’s life had changed.
The 2023 U.S. Amateur champion went from living in Tuscaloosa to traveling the nation to play one event after another. The new, isolating, self-reliant world of pro golf required a brief adjustment period for Dunlap, but he has more than found his footing.
Dunlap finished in a tie for 12th at The Memorial in early June, logged a top-10 at the Rocket Mortgage Classic earlier this month, and just won the Barracuda Championship over the weekend to become the first player to win an event on the PGA Tour as an amateur and as a professional within the same season.
He is now the 41st-ranked player in the world and still cannot legally consume alcohol.
NEAL SHIPLEY
The runnerup to Dunlap at the 2023 U.S. Amateur was perhaps the most notable amateur player in the world this year after achieving a rare major championship feat. Shipley was the low am at both The Masters and the U.S. Open, a feat most recently achieved by Viktor Hovland, Matt Kuchar and Phil Mickelson.
The 23-year-old turned pro after the U.S. Open and already has logged a pair of top 20s in four starts as a professional — a tie for 20th in the Rocket Mortgage Classic and a tie for fifth at the ISCO Championship just two weeks ago.
MICHAEL THORBJORNSEN
Competing an amateur two summers ago, Michael Thorbjornsen broke onto the scene with a fourth-place finish at the Travelers Championship on the PGA Tour.
Now 22 years of age, Thorbjornsen turned pro this summer after he earned full membership onto the PGA Tour for the remainder of this season and all of 2025 by finishing at the top of PGA Tour University rankings through the conclusion of his college career at Stanford. He already has made one significant splash, finishing in a tie for second at the John Deere Classic earlier this month.
