Jhonattan Vegas ends PGA win drought with 3M Open title
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Jhonattan Vegas fired a one-under 70 to capture his fourth career PGA title, finishing 72 holes on 17-under 267.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas birdied the final hole to hold off American rookie Max Greyserman and win the 3M Open on July 28, snapping a seven-year PGA Tour victory drought.
The 39-year-old South American fired a one-under 70 to capture his fourth career PGA title, finishing on 17-under 267 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota.
“You’ve got to get your body ready to play 72 holes. I haven’t been there. It has been a lot of good stuff, but I haven’t been there. Today, it was in there and I knew it from the first hole. Stay calm and I knew I was playing good golf. I had to dig deep and, luckily, I came out with a win,” he said.
Vegas, whose first title came at the 2011 Bob Hope Classic, had not won a PGA event since taking back-to-back Canadian Open crowns in 2016 and 2017.
Right shoulder operations caused him to miss the 2023 season, and he has been rebuilding his game. The world No. 321 had been playing on a medical exemption and has now earned himself a place on the PGA Tour through the 2026 campaign.
“It’s always a great feeling. Winning out here, we all know how hard it is, so every win is special. Coming back from two surgeries, it was a very hard day for me today. Didn’t feel 100 per cent. It took a lot. It really makes the win super special,” Vegas said.
Greyserman was second on 268 after a season-low 63, while compatriots Matt Kuchar (71) and Maverick McNealy (70) shared third on 269 and Canada’s Taylor Pendrith (67) was fifth on 270.
“I played well. Unfortunately, I was a little too far behind. Hopefully, I’ll have more chances in the future,” said Greyserman, 29.
Missing a chance to snap his own trophy drought was Kuchar, 46, who is ranked 125th and had not had a top-10 finish in 2024. He has not won a PGA event since the January 2019 Sony Open in Hawaii.
Jon Rahm, however, ended his own barren run since making the switch to the LIV circuit. The Spaniard had not won a tournament since the 2023 Masters.
He ended that run on July 28, when teammate Tyrrell Hatton missed a six-foot par putt on No. 18 that could have forced a play-off at LIV United Kingdom in Rocester, England. Rahm carded a four-under 67 to finish on 13-under 200 at JCB Golf and Country Club.
Jon Rahm (left) celebrating with teammate Caleb Surratt.
The captain of the victorious Legion XIII team, Rahm finished one stroke ahead of England’s Hatton (69), Chilean Joaquin Niemann (65) and Cameron Smith (69) of Australia.
“Well, first of all, I’ve got to give Tyrrell a lot of credit, too,” Rahm said. “He’s a fantastic player, and you never want to see it end like that. I almost wish we would have got it done in the play-off.”
Rahm now heads to Paris to compete in the Olympic golf event.
Meanwhile, Lauren Coughlin birdied two of the last four holes on July 28 to win the Canadian Women’s Open and capture her first career LPGA title.
The 31-year-old American fired a one-under 71 in the final round to finish on 13-under 275 at the Earl Grey Golf Club in Calgary.
That was good enough for a two-stroke victory over Japan’s Mao Saigo (69), with South Koreans Ryu Hae-ran (75) and Jenny Shin (67) sharing third on 278. AFP, REUTERS
