2026 3M Open leaderboard: Jackson Koivun's record-setting back nine gives him a three-shot lead after Round 3

The 21-year-old rising star took control late on Saturday, but will have to fend off a chase pack that includes the world No. 1

Jackson Koivun turned professional with massive expectations. After a quick hiccup with a missed cut in his first start, the 21-year-old has quickly figured out the PGA Tour learning curve. 

The former Auburn star began the third round at the 2026 3M Open four shots off Michael Kim's pace, but a furious run on the back nine vaulted him into the lead alone at 20 under, three shots clear of the field. Koivun made the turn at 2 under for his round and 12 under overall, but he took off on the back nine thanks to a pair of eagles in a record-setting 8-under 28 on the second side at TPC Twin Cities. 

He opened his back nine with a birdie at the 10th before making the first of those eagles on the par-5 12th. Koivun was able to get home in two from more than 300 yards out and then poured in an eagle putt up the hill to jump into the lead for the first time at 15 under. 

He backed that up with a birdie on the 13th before giving himself another great look at eagle on the drivable par-4 16th, hitting his drive into the slope in front of the green to kill the speed and rolled out to 14 feet for eagle. That putt slid by on the high side, forcing him to settle for a tap-in birdie, but he wasn't done producing magical shots on the back nine. 

On the 212-yard par-3 17th hole, Koivun stayed in that flow state by throwing a dart straight at the pin, rolling out to 7 feet above the hole. He would make that to get to 18 under and arrived at the par-5 18th with a chance at a bit of history. 

Koivun needed a birdie to match the tournament record with a 29 on the back nine -- which Scottie Scheffler matched earlier in the day -- while an eagle at the last would make him the first to post a back nine 28 at TPC Twin Cities. After a mammoth drive, Koivun had just 231 yards into the green and hoisted a long iron high in the air, landing it just into the slope and settling 14 feet right of the hole on the tough to hold back plateau. 

From there, the 21-year-old eyed a sweeping right-to-left putt that had perfect speed and found the center of the cup for his second eagle of the day to shoot a 10-under 61 for his round and set that record mark of a back nine 28. 

Koivun will carry a three-shot lead into Sunday's final round over Emiliano Grillo and Ben Kohles, but he'll have to maintain an aggressive mindset on a course that always has the potential to produce low scores. He'll know that firsthand after his back nine charge on Saturday, and it will be fascinating to watch how the young star handles his first Sunday with a lead on the PGA Tour. It took him a few rounds to get settled into life on the PGA Tour, but he's quickly proven why he came in with the expectation to be the game's next big star, and if he can hold on for the win on Sunday, he'll affirm all the praise he garnered as an amateur. 

Weekend contenders

T2. Emiliano Grillo, Ben Kohles (-17)
T4. Michael Brennan, Chandler Phillips (-16)
T6. Denny McCarthy, Michael Kim, Billy Horschel (-15)
T9. Scottie Scheffler, Davis Thompson, Seamus Power, Brian Harman (-14)
T13. Hideki Matsuyama, Lee Hodges (-13)

Grillo eagled the 18th himself to jump into the final pairing on Sunday alongside Koivun, where he'll have the opportunity to try and push the young star and see if there are any nerves to rattle the 21-year-old. Brennan is a rising star in his own right and nearly had a spot in that final pairing, but the hard-hitting 24-year-old will try to match his Saturday 63 with another low round on Sunday in pursuit of his own breakthrough win. 

Kim had the daunting task of backing up his historic 59 on Friday and struggled to get much of anything going in his third round. He saw his lead evaporate quickly and a day after hitting more than 145 feet of putts, he finished with fewer than 50 feet on Saturday as the putter cooled off considerably. 

Then there's Scottie Scheffler, who was the big story in the middle of the round when he caught fire on the back nine much like Koivun. Scheffler strung together five birdies and an eagle on the back nine -- missing a long eagle putt off his own on the 18th -- to shoot a 7-under 29 and charge into a share of the clubhouse lead at 14 under when he posted his card. Scheffler's eagle came on the drivable 16th, where he chipped in from the left greenside rough to spark a roar from the Minnesota crowd. 

While that 14 under number was never going to hold up as the lead with the scoring conditions at TPC Twin Cities, Scheffler certainly would've hoped to be closer than six shots back entering the final round. Now he'll need to produce something magical on Sunday to surge past Koivun and the rest if he's going to capture that elusive second win of 2026. 

Updated 2026 3M Open odds, picks

• Jackson Koivun (20/31)
• Ben Kohles (7-1)
• Emiliano Grillo (17/2)
• Michael Brennan (13-1)
• Scottie Scheffler (13-1)
• Chandler Phililps (22-1)

This feels like Koivun's week to get crowned as the next big thing on the PGA Tour. While it's just his third start as a professional, Koivun is no stranger to winning golf tournaments and playing with the lead. It's certainly a different animal on the PGA Tour, especially if he looks up on Sunday and sees Scheffler charging at him, but Koivun dominated the college and amateur ranks, piling up wins in recent years and that experience should pay dividends. There's not enough scar tissue of close calls as a pro to wear him down, and as he showed with the closing three-hole stretch on Saturday, he is not afraid to hit the shots when called upon late. 

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[Jul 25, 2026 at 5:04 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Koivun is now 8 under on his round and 6 under on the back nine after a birdie on the tough par-3 17th, opening up a two-shot lead at 18 under. Koivun fired a dart on the 212-yard par 3 to 7 feet past the hole and then poured the putt down the hill into the center of the cup. He'll now look to pick up one (or two) more on the par-5 18th and post a new clubhouse lead that he'll hope holds up as his first 54-hole lead in his very young PGA Tour career. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 4:51 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

The 21-year-old rising star continues to make a back nine charge on Saturday at the 3M Open. Koivun's latest birdie came on the drivable 16th where he hit one of the best tee shots of the day, bouncing a driver into the front slope to kill the speed and set up a terrific look at eagle from 13 feet. 

His attempt at a second eagle on the back nine just slid by the right edge, but left him with a tap-in birdie to get to 17 under and grab the solo lead again -- and importantly open up a three-shot advantage over Scottie Scheffler. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 4:05 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Shortly after Scottie Scheffler got into the clubhouse with a share of the top spot at 14 under, the lead got moved to 15 under by one of the game's rising stars, Jackson Koivun. Formerly the No. 1 amateur in the world, Koivun is speed-running the PGA Tour learning curve, missing the cut in his first event before a top 10 last week and he now has the lead alone on the weekend after an eagle on the 12th got him to 15 under. 

Koivun and the rest on the golf course will be trying to create some space between themselves and the world No. 1 as they make their way through the back nine, knowing if they want to win they need Scheffler as far off the pace coming into Sunday as possible. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 4:01 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

A 34-footer for eagle slid past the high side, but Scottie Scheffler joins the logjam at the top of the leaderboard at 14 under with a 7-under 64 on Saturday -- with all of that work being done on the back nine as he came in with a 7-under 29. 

Scheffler started slow with two birdies and two bogeys on his front nine to tread water at 7 under, and made the turn tied for 38th. He ripped off three straight birdies to start his back nine and then made his biggest move with a chip-in eagle on the drivable par-4 16th to get within one of the lead. After finding the fairway on the par-5 18th, he hit a piercing 4 iron into the center of the green but just crept back off the back ridge, leaving a big breaking eagle putt that he couldn't quit nail down. 

A tap-in birdie gets him into a tie with Davis Thompson and Seamus Power in the clubhouse at 14 under, with Michael Kim, Michael Brennan, Ben Kohles and Denny McCarthy all at that number on the golf course. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 3:42 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

The clubhouse lead is now 14 under after Davis Thompson and Seamus Power both fired Saturday 63s to climb 23 spots on the leaderboard into a share of first. It seems unlikely that will hold up as the 54-hole lead, but at the very least they should enter the final round as part of the top 10 with a very real chance at picking up a PGA Tour victory. 

Thompson made seven birdies, one eagle and a bogey in his third round, briefly threatening to be the latest to shoot a 59 when he got to -8 thru 12 before a bogey on the 13th effectively ended that dream. Power, meanwhile, was steady all day with eight birdies on a blemish-free scorecard, closing his round with a birdie on the 18th to join Thompson in the lead. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 3:28 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

The world No. 1 is on the charge on the back nine and is suddenly just one shot off the lead after a chip-in eagle on the drivable par-4 16th. 

Scheffler began the day with a frustrating front nine where he made just two birdies and two bogeys, but after ripping off three straight birdies to start his back nine, he added another on the 15th and then the eagle chip-in on the 16th to get to 6 under for the day (and in his last seven holes) and is 13 under overall. With Michael Kim unable to extend his lead on the front nine, that's allowed Scheffler to climb within one and he'll still have the par-5 18th to come to try and get into the clubhouse at 14 under or better. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 3:18 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

There are now three players tied at the top, as Ben Kohles joins Michael Kim and Davis Thompson at 14 under after his third birdie of the day on the par-3 8th. Kohles hit a beautiful cut to the back right hole location and paid off that tee shot with a birdie. Kim, meanwhile, gave back his birdie at the 6th with a bogey on the 7th and couldn't match Kohles on the par 3. Thompson is on the par-5 18th looking to close out the low round of the day and see if a 14 or 15 under figure can hold up in the clubhouse and get him into one of the final pairings on Sunday. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 3:02 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

It took six holes but Michael Kim finally opened his account at TPC Twin Cities with a birdie on the 6th hole to get to 15 under and reclaim the solo lead by one stroke over Davis Thompson. Kim's sluggish start relative to the scoring average on Saturday has created quite the bunched leaderboard with 22 players within five shots of the lead. Still, with the most golf left to play on the course, Kim will still have a chance to create distance again if he can warm up the putter and get on a run of birdies, but if it continues being hard work for the leader throughout Saturday, a lot of players could come into Sunday feeling like they have a real opportunity to win. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 2:39 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

The lead hasn't moved off 14 under as Michael Kim cannot buy a putt so far on Saturday, and that's given Scottie Scheffler time to warm up. After a frustrating even par front nine, Scheffler has found something on the back as he's picked up three straight birdies to move to 10 under, just four shots off the lead. A dart on the 10th got him going with a 4-footer for birdie and then he backed that up with a 14-footer on the 11th to finally get a putt of consequence to drop. On the par-5 12th he went long and left in two but chipped it to inside a foot for a tap-in birdie and is suddenly racing back up the leaderboard after being stuck in first gear for the first nine holes of his day. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 2:11 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Davis Thompson made the turn with a 6-under 29 on the front nine, and after opening the back with back-to-back pars, made up even more ground with an eagle on the 12th to get to 14 under overall and tie Michael Kim for the lead. 

Thompson is now -8 thru 12 on his round and will be a threat to produce the second 59 of the week if he can find four more birdies in his final six holes. That's a tall order, but if nothing else he's climbed from outside the top 20 into a share of the lead and even on a day with good scoring conditions could put himself into the final group on Sunday with another couple of birdies. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 2:06 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

An even-par 35 was not what Scheffler had in mind when he began the day seven shots off Michael Kim's lead, and while he hasn't lost ground on Kim yet -- who is just two holes into his round -- he has slipped 30 spots down the leaderboard into T43 with his slow start. Moving Day at the 3M Open has lived up to the billing with a ton of rounds in the mid-60s out there, but Scheffler will have serious work to do on the back nine if he's going to enter Sunday within striking distance of the lead. 

In contrast, Scheffler's playing partner on Saturday, Hideki Matsuyama, is -5 thru 9 and has moved into a tie for second at 12 under as he makes the turn. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 1:11 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Moving Day could be a wild one in Minnesota. The top of the leaderboard is already changing considerably thanks to two red-hot starts from Thompson and Matsuyama. Thompson is -6 thru 7, with birdies on six of his first seven holes to jump to 12 under and solo second currently. He's now firmly on 59 Watch, as he just needs two closing pars on the front nine to match the 29 Michael Kim shot on the front side when he shot 59 on Friday. Then there's Matsuyama, who made a big move on Friday and is backing that up on Saturday with four birdies in his first five holes to move to 11 under. 

He's doing what Scottie Scheffler hasn't been able to, as the world No. 1 is even over his first five holes in the third round, still stuck in first gear at 7 under which has him now down in T38 on a day where low scores are flying. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 12:26 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Perhaps we could see another player take a run at the magic number of 59 on Saturday, as Davis Chatfield has gone out in 5-under 30 on the front nine at TPC Twin Cities today. Chatfield began the day at 5 under so he's moved into the top 5 at 10 under overall, and will at minimum look to best Chris Kirk's 64 as the low round of the day and potentially take aim at joining the 59 club if he can go crazy on the back nine with seven birdies. 

[Jul 25, 2026 at 12:09 pm ET · Robby Kalland]

Scoring conditions continue to be terrific at TPC Twin Cities, and while there may not be another 59 out there today, there is plenty of opportunity to make a leap on Moving Day. Chris Kirk did just that this morning, starting the day at 3 under after making the cut on the number but vaulting up to 10 under with a third round 64 that has him currently inside the top 5. 

Kirk kept a clean card with seven birdies and no bogeys, cruising around TPC Twin Cities to climb 49 places on the leaderboard by the time his round ended. He will almost assuredly not end the day still in the top 10, but he's given himself a chance at being in the top 20 heading into Sunday and has set the bar for what's possible on Moving Day for those closer to the lead.