[Music] vets rule at 3M open as yitan Vegas and Matt cucker are in front so the gala lurking bla Min the leaderboard at the 3M open is topped by a couple of crafty veterans who haven't been there much of late but some young Challengers are lurking heading into the final round at TPC Twin Cities yitan Vegas fired one of four rounds of 63 on Saturday to climb to 16 under 197 and claim a one-stroke leader over Matt cucker Vegas 39 is playing on a major medical extension after undergoing two surgeries the previous two years and entered the week at number 10049 in the FedEx Cup he's seeking his first win since the 2017 RBC Canadian open cucker 46 entered the week at number 155 in the FedEx Cup and winless since the 2020 Sony Open in Hawaii Midway through Saturday's thirdd round there was a five-way tie for the lead after 36 hole leader Taylor pendrith who played his first 38 Holes without a bogey hit a string of three Bogies in four holes and then made a double at number 11 he finished at 2 over 73 and drifted back to T9 TPC Twin Cities is known to be a birdie Fest but with 27 water hazards and throw in wind gusting to 28 mph and it was a recipe for for a day of volatility on the leaderboard Patrick Fishburn Maverick mcney cucker and Vegas took advantage of a few T's being moved up and still lit up the Arnold Palmer design to the tune of 63 so the gala who is lurking for back T4 took his hat off to the players who went low and McNeely and Fishburn both agreed it likely will take another low round on Sunday to take home the trophy I think tomorrow is going to be even more difficult greens are going to be even firmer winds are going to be up just as high McNeely said as you can see by the guys on the leaderboard you're still going to have to go make a bunch of birdies tomorrow here are five things to know from the third round of the 2024 3M open 3M open leaderboard photos merchandise yitan Vegas is 39 and the three-time tour winner hasn't tasted victory since the 2017 RBC Canadian open he's playing off of a major medical extension this season with 25 starts to earn 327 points he's earned 180 coming into this week the Venezuelan hasn't recorded a top 10 finish since the corales Puna championship in March 2022 he also didn't play between the 2023 valpar championship in March and the Sony Open in Hawaii in January after undergoing two surgeries one to his right elbow and the other to his right shoulder I tried to play through it he said of elbow injury which caused a little inflammation in the right shoulder the following year so I had to have another surgery then the following year in 23 so it's not 100% it's never going to be 100% anytime you have surgery especially two surgeries in one arm it's never fun so still dealing with it but obviously slowly getting better which is nice to feel Vegas has been returning to form with three straight made cuts and is coming off his best result in 14 start the season at20 at the John Deere Classic this week he's played the front nine in even PR which includes a triple bogey on Thursday and the backside in 16 under his game has been a balanced attack second in Strokes gained approach third in SG T to green and seventh in SG pudding how does it feel to be back in contention for his first win in more than 7 years good I mean really good he said obvious VI ly a lot of the effort is definitely paying back which is what you always want to feel just kind of makes you feel like you're doing the right thing and you've just got to keep working hard Matt cucker remembers being 8 years old and the name on the back of his first soccer jersey said simply cutch it's a nickname that has stuck all these years it is fun to hear the cutes wherever I go he said there hasn't been many reasons to cheer for cucker this year who missed the cut in nine of his first 11 starts the season he's made five of his last seven Cuts but still has recorded just one top 20 finish all season and is in Jeopardy of failing to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time he's the only player to qualify for all 17 editions gosh I haven't lost my job in a long time I certainly don't want this year to be the year I lose my job he said time is running out but cucker is fighting hard this week on Saturday he chipped in for Eagle at the last hole to shoot eight under 63 his best round of the Season by Two Strokes when I hit it I knew it was going to be good knew it was going to be at least close to the hole and for it to go in was a very cool finish he said it was awfully exciting to have that many people get so excited when the ball disappeared despite a birdie at number two it didn't look as if cucker was going to mount a charge after he tugged his t- shot into the water at the fourth and took three putts to make double bogey but he bounced back with four straight birdies I pride myself in kind of letting things wash off my back pretty easily but to bounce back with four straight birdies after a silly double was awfully nice said cucker who made nearly 120 ft of putts on the day he added three more birdies on the back nine to go along with the eagle chip in at the last the best of the bunch was a seven iron at the P3 17th that he stuffed to tap in range cucker has won nine times on the PGA tour and number number 10 would take care of his playoff plans a runnerup would leave him at number 95 with work to do at the Windam Championship but cucker wasn't too concerned with those details golf gets fun when you've got a chance on Sunday he said as Pros we sometimes feel a long way away certainly this year has felt like a long way away for me but I think if you can plug the right ingredient in Pros are never that far away from snapping back hopefully we've kind of got the right ingredient in for this thing to maintain for another day another week another month another year Maverick mcneel's wife Maya walked all 18 holes on a hot sunny day but as she put it it was an entertaining watch for sure that it was McNeely birdied half the holes at TPC Twin Cities and made just one bogey at 13 when he smoked a four iron long that hit a spectator and failed to get up and down to improve to 14 under 199 and alone in third MC NE 28 rattled in a 16t putt at the first and made Birdie on half of his first 12 holes to TI Taylor pendrith at 12 under he would birdie three of his final four holes including a two- putt birdie at 18 to post 63 he made it look easy wedging inside 6 feet four different times to set up birdies I've worked on wedges a lot said mcne who also had to flight them properly with Gusty winds it honestly felt like the Open Championship was great prep for today though because I was chipping nine iron on 16 from 120 that's a shot you hit over in Scotland you don't expect to hit in Minnesota when it's 95° mcne entered the week at number 68 in the FedEx Cup and in his seventh year as a pro he seeking his first win on the PGA tour I was number one in college how many no ones in college do you think are out on the PGA tour right now there's dozens and dozens and dozens and guys who have gotten a lot better I'm a better player now than I was in college but the competition I'm playing against is really really good he said I just shot five under eight under the last two rounds and I'm probably going to have to go shoot mid-60s tomorrow to win this thing so it's really hard out here Patrick Fishburn has struggled for most of his rookie campaign on the PGA tour but he's finished 15th and T3 the last two weeks and heads into the final round of the 3M open at T4 after shooting a bogy free 63 on Saturday Fishburn 32 started the season by missing the cut in seven of his first eight starts but he's always been a slow starter so he didn't panic but his pudding had been so Dreadful that 3 weeks ago he switched to pudding cross-handed using an arm loock Odyssey Jailbird 380 Putter and it's made all the difference a lot of adjustments I completely changed the way I grip the putter changed Putters changed the Loft on the putter everything you can think of with pudding he said there was nothing to lose because it couldn't be any worse than it was perhaps the best example of his putter being more friend than foe happened at the P51 12th when he chunked a chip and left himself a 20-footer and canned it you've got to make a birdie to keep it going he said changes your game if you can make a putt Fishburn who entered the week at number 117 in the FedEx Cup made the biggest jump up the leaderboard on moving day but knows he will need another low one on Sunday there's so many good players you have to just keep the pedal down he said even with the conditions like this you still have to shoot really good scores to have a chance it's going to take my best again tomorrow Revenge they say is a dish best served cold it's not ice fishing season in the Twin Cities but the gella is getting the best of a TPC Twin Cities course that had kicked his butt in his first three appearances the 3M open is the only tournament that he has played at least three times and never made the cut yet he came back this week to get revenge I really tried to make an emphasis on this week to get over that hurdle