BLAINE, Minn. (AP) — Scott Piercy shot a 7-under 64 on Friday at TPC Twin Cities to take a three-stroke lead in the 3M Open.
Piercy had a 13-under 129 total. The four-time PGA Tour winner opened with a 65 on Thursday in windy conditions.
Emiliano Grillo was second after a 65. Callum Tarren had a 63 to reach 8 under and Tony Finau (68) was 7 under with Robert Streb (67), Tom Hoge (68), Sungjae Im (70) and Doug Ghim (68).
Starting his afternoon round on the back nine, Piercy birdied the first four holes. He added birdies on No. 2, 6 and 7 coming home to extend his lead and made a 10-footer for par on the par-3 eighth.
“It’s been a little bit since I’ve played like I feel like I should play,” said Piercy, who had missed four of his last six cuts. “To kind of prove it to myself again, I know it’s in there, it’s just like, okay, how do we get it out of me.
"There’s a lot of business to take care of this weekend, but to come out the first two days and do what I did gives me a lot of confidence going into the weekend.”
The 43-year-old Piercy, at 138th place in the FedEx Cup standings with only the top 125 making the playoffs and keeping full PGA Tour status, needs a strong finish over the final three weeks of the PGA Tour season.
"I’ve been out here a long time, I know what I need to do," he said. “Just wishing I’d have done it earlier in the season.”
Grillo eagled the par-5 6th.
“Obviously that one on 6, it’s a big plus to steal two and it’s a hole that’s kind of hard to get in two, so solid day,” Grillo said.
Tarren was a stroke off the 3M Open tournament record.
“I hit every green today, so I had so many chances,” Tarren said. “I actually missed probably four or five inside 10 feet, so it could have been ridiculous.”
Unaware he was close to the scoring record, the Englishman birdied 15 and 17 and narrowly missed a 46-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th.
Cameron Champ, the 2021 winner, birdied four of his last five holes for a 68 to make the cut on the number at 1 over.
