Thorbjørn Olesen carded a five-under 66 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Jake Knapp after the second round of the PGA Tour’s 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities.
Olesen, a nine-time DP World Tour winner, sits at 14-under 128 after opening with a 62. The 35-year-old Dane recovered from a double-bogey at the par-four 15th with back-to-back birdies, then hit out of the rough at the par-four 9th to set up a 5-foot birdie putt to close his round.
“I think both days, my iron play has been really, really good,” said Olesen, who missed the cut at The Open last week. “I hit a lot of shots really close to the pin. There were a couple of bad drives today that cost me, but overall I still felt pretty good over the ball.”
Knapp stayed bogey-free through 36 holes for the first time in his career, signing for a six-under 65. He is one clear of Pierceson Coody (65) and Sam Stevens (68), who bogeyed the 9th to drop back. Takumi Kanaya (64), Chris Kirk (67) and Matti Schmid (68) are tied fifth at 11 under.
Knapp, the 2024 Mexico Open champion, started hot with birdies on the 10th, 11th and 12th and continues his push toward the playoffs. He is 55th in the FedExCup standings, with two weeks left in the regular season. Schmid (68th) and Kirk (77th) are also in position to challenge for a spot inside the top 70.
“I feel like it’s been kind of mistake-free for the most part,” said Knapp, who shot a 59 at the Cognizant Classic in February. “I haven’t really had to scramble too much.”
Adam Svensson nearly matched Knapp’s mark with an 11-under 60 on Thursday, but followed it with a 75 to drop 29 spots down the leaderboard.
Among those missing the cut were Byeong Hun An (67th in the standings) and Li Haotong, who tied fourth last week after playing in the final group at The Open alongside eventual champion Scottie Scheffler.
South African Garrick Higgo carded a seven-under 67, making eight birdies against two double-bogeys.
Photo: David Berding/Getty Images
