For the first time in seven years, Jhonattan Vegas has found his way into the winner's circle. Converting his 54-hole lead at the 2024 3M Open into a one-stroke victory over Max Greyserman at 17 under, the 39-year-old – playing on a major medical extension — claimed his fourth PGA Tour title at TPC Twin Cities.
With the win, Vegas secures his playing privileges on the PGA Tour for the next two seasons while also punching his ticket into major championships like the Masters and PGA Championship in 2025. He will tee it up in the Players Championship as well and is now on the inside track to qualify for the playoffs as he rises to No. 66 in the FedEx Cup standings with just one regular season event remaining.
"It's always a great feeling," Vegas said. "Winning out here, we know how hard it is so every win is special, especially like I said coming back from two surgeries. It was a very hard day for me today, I didn't feel 100% which is something I have been battling the past few weeks as well. It took a lot. It really makes the win super special…it's just so, so exciting to win and whatever comes with it."
Battling the injury bug over the last half decade, Vegas was vintage in Minnesota this week. Striking the ball with confidence and without a three putt all tournament, the Venezuelan tied it all together just tight enough to eke out the win.
Sunday's affairs were anything but easy for the overnight leader as he needed to convert a 12-foot bogey putt on his opening hole. Dropping out of a share of the lead when Matt Kuchar put a circle on his scorecard on the par-4 2nd, Vegas immediately knew the fight he was up against.
A couple birdies came on his front side before an inexplicable approach shot into the difficult ninth found the water. Able to get up-and-down from a tricky spot in front of the green, Vegas went into the inward half still in possession of the lead. It would slip from his grasp when a bogey arrived on the par-3 13th as Maverick McNealy joined the party.
With Greyserman up ahead closing in 30 and posting 16 under courtesy of a final-round 63, the clubhouse lead was set and Vegas had a target score to chase. A birdie bid from 10 feet came soon after on the par-4 15th to pull Vegas' name alongside Greyserman's with three to play.
A pair of pars set the stage for the closing par-5 18th where Vegas found the surface in two. With his approach settling 96 feet from the pin, Vegas gave himself a 3-foot birdie putt to clinch the 3M Open title and everything else that comes with it including his first victory since the 2017 RBC Canadian Open. Grade: A+
Here are the grades for the rest of the notables on the leaderboard at the 3M Open
5. Taylor Pendrith (-14): The long-hitting Canadian entered the weekend with a two-stroke lead and without a bogey on his scorecard but got punched in the face on Saturday. Getting to 14 under at one stage, Pendrith started to go in the wrong direction in the middle of his round playing a four-hole stretch in 4 over. He bounced back nicely on Sunday with a sub-70 round to improve his place inside the top 30 of the FedEx Cup standings and improve his candidacy for the International Presidents Cup team. Grade: A
"It stings a little bit to not have a great round yesterday, just couldn't really get anything going," Pendrith said. "Missed quite a few fairways yesterday and made some sloppy mistakes. Yeah, obviously overall it was a great week, I played some really good golf for three days, so I'm pleased but a little bit disappointed with my performance yesterday."
T6. Sahith Theegala (-13): This tournament was begging for someone to go out and seize it and Theegala was the name on the leaderboard many thought would. After carding a couple birdies in his first six holes, Theegala lost his swing ever so slightly leading to back-to-back bogeys before the turn. His driver continued to set up scoring opportunities but some short misses with his new putter and some uncharacteristic wedge shots left him stuck in neutral. Grade: B+
T13. Tony Finau (-11): Finau's week was the definition of a mixed bag as it featured plenty of good and plenty of not so good with 20 birdies, 11 bogeys and one eagle. The 2022 champion had enough firepower to contend in this tournament, but the combination of some short misses on the greens and wide misses off the tee were his undoing. He now has six straight top 20s in the United States and rebounded well off that disappointing 81 in the second round of The Open. Grade: B
T13. Sam Burns (-11): Burns' tournament could have gotten away from him early Thursday when he hit two balls in the water on No. 7. He hung tough, however, got into red figures and then carded nine birdies on Friday to push his name back into the mix. Similar to Finau, Burns had the scoring to win this golf tournament as he put 24 birdies and an eagle on the scorecard over the course of the week. Unfortunately, he also carded a quadruple bogey and triple bogey along the way. Grade: B
T64. Akshay Bhatia (-2): The big stick was a big letdown for Bhatia this week. Amid a stretch of play where the driver has been both long and accurate, the lengthy left hander was unable to wield that club effectively around TPC Twin Cities losing a total of four balls off the tee. The good news is it got better as the week progressed, but the bad news is by then he was already out of tournament contention. He now shifts his focus to the postseason as he checks in inside the top 20 in the FedEx Cup standings. Grade: D
Rick Gehman, Patrick McDonald, Greg DuCharme recap the 2024 3M Open and Jhonattan Vegas' first win in seven years. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.