Scott Piercy suffers final-round meltdown as Tony Finau comes from five shots behind to win 3M Open

Scott Piercy suffered the equivalent of a golfing nightmare on Sunday as he threw away a five-shot lead and was overhauled by Tony Finau in the final round of the 3M Open.

Piercy, who changed his caddie, coach, driver and putter after a string of terrible results, had been bulletproof and looked certain to go wire-to-wire when holding a big lead on Sunday afternoon.

But a pair of bogeys to end the back nine saw doubt creep in, and as Piercy faltered, Finau stepped things up to claim an unlikely victory.

Following his impressive opening 18 holes, Piercy said drastic times called for drastic action.

The alarm bells rang early for Piercy as his iron play – so precise for three days – was errant early in the final round.

Final Round Leaderboard

• 1. Tony Finau, 17-under
• T2. Sungjae Im, 14-under
• T2. Emiliano Grillo, 14-under
• T4. James Hahn, 13-under
• T4. Tom Hoge, 13-under
• T4. Scott Piercy, 13-under
• T7. Danny Willett, 10-under
• T7. Callum Tarren, 10-under
• T7. Greyson Sigg, 10-under
• 10. Chesson Hadley, nine-under

He steadied things with a birdie on six, which appeared to put pressure on his playing partner Emiliano Grillo, who coughed up a triple bogey one hole later.

Piercy looked set to make smooth sailing to the clubhouse at that point, but bogeys on eight, nine and 11 gave a sniff to the chasers – and Finau sensed blood.

An air-mailed second shot on 13 led to a bogey for Piercy, and alarm bells in the camp became air-raid sirens one hole later when he completely unravelled.

His tee shot was buried in a bunker, and he was unable to get it out at the first time of asking. The third shot was a daunting one, as he had to carry the water from 190 yards out of the sand. He caught it thick and it went into the lake with a demoralising plonk.

Finau arrived in Minnesota later than ideal after playing at the Open, but he said that having five children to occupy him negates the jetlag.

He did nothing spectacular early in his round on Sunday, but the tournament came to him and his class kicked in on the back nine.

Excellent birdie putts on 11 and 14 took him into the lead, and he holed a tramliner from long range on 15 to move into a two-stroke advantage.

With Piercy and Grillo finding places on the course you do not want to go near when in contention on a Sunday, Finau twisted the knife with a birdie on 16 to open up a four-stroke cushion.

While Finau played impressive golf on the back nine on Sunday, luck was on his side on 17. His tee shot went way long and crashed into the stands, bounced back and looked certain to go in the water but it somehow dug its heels in on the edge of the lake.

He got up and down for a quite amazing par but Finau had a series of seconds to his name, and was establishing a reputation as a choker, before getting over the line at the Northern Trust in 2021.

As such, it was never likely to be easy and he inexplicably found the water off the tee on 18. But with a four-shot advantage, a bogey was absolutely fine and his six was enough to secure a three-shot victory.