Watching the 3M Championship

Yesterday my wife, Amy, and I had the opportunity to attend the last 3M Championship at the Tournament Players Course in Blaine.

We almost didn’t make it.  I was hot after leading the outdoor worship service at Chain of Lakes. Amy was warm after doing a number of projects around the house. The two of us had attended Mass on Saturday at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church.  But this was the last time the tournament was being held in Blaine, so off we went.

We parked at lot at the Blaine airport and rode a school bus to the golf course.  We probably were one of the last people to ride on the bus.  Beforehand we were given complimentary tickets to a hospitality tent.  When we got to the tent we enjoyed some food and sat down to watch the play at the 18^th green.  We saw four or five threesomes play.  But we didn’t know who was playing and we were a bit far from the green, so we left to get closer to the action.  We found a location at the 17^th green where we could watch play on that green and watch players drive off the 18^th tee.

The tournament was practically over at that moment as Kenny Perry had a large lead.  We did watch Wes Short Jr. miss a medium-range putt on 17^th that could have put him within two shots.  When he missed the putt it was obvious who would win the tournament.   

A highlight was watching Tom Lehman play 17 and 18.  His daughter was his caddie, and he had a golf bag with University of Minnesota apparel.  While I was watching him putt on 17 and drive on 18 I remembered watching him win the British Open in 1996 and almost win the US Open in at Congressional in 1997.

Jim Souhan wrote in the Star Tribune that this might be Lehman’s last professional golf tournament in Minnesota. I especially enjoyed reading about the nervousness that Lehman felt right before he crushed a 4 iron on 18 that led to a final birdie.  That article is here: http://www.startribune.com/tom-lehman-plays-final-3m-championship-but-there-s-work-to-do-in-home-state/490111701/

But the day belonged to Kenny Perry. I watched him make a par on 17 and take a cautious approach to 18.  Instead of going over the water he went to the left of the hole.  He hit an excellent approach and made a final birdie.  He finished at 21 under.  Any person at the age of 59 who can play 54 holes at that score deserves to win. 

I’ll be very interested to see how the course is changed when the regular PGA Tour has a tournament there next July. If Kenny Perry can shoot 21 under for three rounds at age 59 imagine what Dustin Johnson could do over four rounds at age 35.

Like yesterday, I look forward to watching.