Scott Piercy opened with four consecutive birdies on his way to a seven-under-par 64 at the PGA Tour’s 3M Open on Friday.
The 43-year-old American’s bogey-free round put him on 13 under 129 after 36 holes at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota.
“It feels great,” Piercy said. “It has been a little bit since I’ve played as I should play. To prove it to myself again, I know it’s in there, it’s just like, ‘OK, how do we get it out of me?'”
Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo, chasing his first PGA Tour victory since 2015, was second on 132 with England’s Callum Tarren third on 134 after a sizzling 63, one off the course record.
South Africa’s Dawie van der Walt heads into the weekend on level par (T46), while Dylan Frittelli and Garrick Higgo failed to make the cut.
Piercy, a 2016 US Open runner-up, is chasing his fifth PGA Tour title, but his first solo crown since the 2015 Barbasol Championship. He is 1-4 with a 36-hole PGA lead, winning at the 2012 Canadian Open.
“There’s a lot of business to take care of this weekend,” Piercy said. “But to come out the first two days and do what I did gives me a lot of confidence going into the weekend.”
Back-nine starter Piercy, ranked 297th in the world, shared the 18-hole lead and charged at the start in round two with a birdie binge.
Piercy sank a 27-foot birdie putt at the 10th, a 10-footer at 11, another from just outside four feet at the par-five 12th and the last from just under six feet at the par-three 13th.
It was the third time in his PGA Tour career that Piercy began a round with four birdies after the third rounds at last year’s Palmetto Championship and the 2019 Heritage tournament.
Piercy made a 17-foot birdie putt at the 2nd hole and added birdie putts from just outside 10 feet at the par-five 6th and par-four 7th.
Grillo, third at the 2020 3M Open, had five birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey.
“I played great. Everything worked,” Grillo said. “Made some putts. Happy days.”
The world No 132, who shared second three weeks ago at the John Deere Classic, won his only PGA Tour title at the 2015 Frys.com Open in only his eighth tour start.
Grillo had five birdies and an eagle against a lone bogey. He holed a 40-foot eagle putt after reaching the green in two at the par-five 6th.
“When you have such a long putt you’re trying to focus on the speed,” Grillo said of his effort at the 6th hole. “I was just trying to read the break and I hit a magnificent putt.”
© Agence France-Presse
