Five takeaways from third round of 2022 3M Open

Scott Piercy has a blister on his right foot, but it didn’t stop him from stretching his lead at the 3M Open to four strokes.

Piercy, who led by three at the start of the day, blistered the field with five straight birdies beginning at No. 3, and carded a 5-under 66 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota, to build his lead over Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo.

Piercy began taking his shoe off between shots beginning at No. 9 and continued to do so for several holes.

“And people say golf isn’t a sport,” Max Homa tweeted of Piercy dealing with his blister. “Check mate haters!”

Piercy held a commanding six-stroke lead until he made his lone blunder of the day at the last. From 248 yards, Piercy fatted his second shot at the par-5 18^th into the lake fronting the green, but he recovered to salvage a bogey.

It was a long day that began bright and early to try to beat forecasted storms. The weatherman was right and play was suspended at 10:57 a.m. Six hours and 38 minutes later, play resumed.

“It was a weird round, I feel like two rounds,” Tony Finau said. “You know, played the first eight this morning and then the final 10 this evening, so it was just kind of a strange feel to it when you have that long of a delay, but roll with the punches.”

Ain’t no stinkin’ blisters can stop Scott Piercy

Blaine, Minnesota, USA; Scott Piercy holds his shoe on the 9th green during the third round of the 3M Open golf tournament. (Photo: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports)

If the shoe fits on Sunday, Piercy should be your 3M Open champion. That was an issue in the third round as Piercy dealt with discomfort from a blister on his right foot.

“Yesterday I wore a new pair of shoes and kind of rubbed my heel, kind of a dime-sized, nickel-sized blister on the back of my heel,” he said. “Tried to do some stuff last night to doctor it up to get ready and just every move the shoe made was painful, so I just took it off. Didn’t hurt to walk without it, so I just put it on when I hit and seemed to do OK.”

As much as Piercy tried to ignore it, he said the blister was a hindrance and may have been responsible for his struggles late in the round.

“I felt like I couldn’t get into my setup like I normally do and I felt that’s like where a couple of the loose shots came from,” he explained.

Piercy kept his right shoe on between shots for the last six holes and after the round he explained why.

“I had a whole array of…