Jacob Bridgeman plays his shot from the second tee during the first round of the 2024 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Jacob Bridgeman stuck an old putter from his high school days into play on Thursday and rolled to nine birdies and a round of 8-under 63 at TPC Twin Cities for a one-stroke lead over Mackenzie Hughes.
With his caddie having travel woes due to the CrowdStrike tech outage, Bridgeman killed time on Tuesday in the TaylorMade truck and messed around with a gray Spider mallet putter that he used six years ago. He took it out to the course Thursday and made four birdies in his first eight holes, including a 34-foot putt at No. 8, before his lone bogey of his opening round at the ninth. He bounced back with three birdies in a row starting at No. 12, including a 20-footer at 13, and holed a bunker shot at 17.
“That one kind of surprised me. I was in a bad spot and I didn’t think I could stop it and it kind of one-hopped in the hole,” Bridgeman said. “That probably went from a 4 to a 2.”
Bridgeman had missed three straight cuts entering this week and said he was down in the dumps after his latest weekend off.
“Never had struggles with my confidence until these last few weeks and I told a couple people I felt like I’ve been kicked in the face,” he said.
Pep talks from his parents, his college coach at Clemson University and his girlfriend, who reminded him, “work is meant to be balanced with rest,” helped him find a better head space.
It couldn’t have come at a better time for Bridgeman, who has yet to record a top-10 finish this season, but could make up for a sluggish start with a big week — a win has him projected to leap to No. 63.
“It’s been everything I’ve dreamed of as a little boy but at the same time it’s really hard,” he said of playing on Tour. “You can’t play the same game I did last year. These guys keep getting better and that’s something I’ve had to learn.”
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