Who’s hot, who’s not entering this week’s 3M Open golf tournament

The PGA Tour stops in Minnesota with this week’s 3M Open at the TPC Twins Cities golf course in Blaine. Practice rounds will be Tuesday and Wednesday, with the first round on Thursday. The final round of the third annual event is on Sunday.

Dustin Johnson

World Rank: 2

FedEx Cup Rank: 15

3M Open appearance: 2nd (2020 – withdrew)

How’s he playing: He has certainly cooled off from the absolute heater he was on. After withdrawing from this event last season after a first-round 78, Johnson went on to finish in the top-12 in each of his next 11 events — a stretch that included four victories, highlighted by winning the Masters in November, and three second-place finishes.

Johnson experienced a bit of a lull after that, but is shaping back into form in his last four events — all top-25 finishes, including an eighth-place finish at The Open on Sunday.

Louis Oosthuizen

World Rank: 9

FedEx Cup Rank: 9

3M Open appearance: 1st

How’s he playing: Really, really, well. As in, three top-3s in the final three majors of the year, well.

Oosthuizen will always be criticized for his inability to seal the deal at the big events — even though he won The Open in 2010 — but being at the top of the leader board that many times in marquee events is something to be celebrated. Few, if any, are playing as well as the South African at the moment. And it’s possible that had Oosthuizen won The Open over the weekend, he would have withdrawn from this week’s 3M Open.

The 38-year-old has seven top-10 finishes this season.

Patrick Reed

World Rank: 13

FedEx Cup Rank: 22

3M Open appearance: 2nd (2019 – 23rd)

How’s he playing: It’s been a solid season for Reed, who has finished in the top 20 in half of his 20 starts, including a victory at the Farmers Insurance Open and a pair of top-10s in two Masters. That’s a career year for most players on Tour.

But, for a player of Reed’s caliber, it’s likely disappointing he has only truly been in contention once this season — his lone victory — and while his missed cut at The Open is likely what sealed his decision to make a return trip to TPC Twin Cities, it did snap his streak of seven straight top-20s at major championships.

Tony Finau

World Rank: 19

FedEx Cup Rank: 23

3M Open appearance: 3rd (2019 – 23rd, 2020 – 3rd)

How’s he playing: Very up and down. Over his last 10 starts, Finau has five missed cuts and four top 20s.

And for someone who is used to lurking around the top of leader boards, there hasn’t been much of that lately after Finau logged three straight top-4s earlier in the season, culminating with a playoff defeat at the Genesis Invitational in mid-February. Finau did finish 15th at The Open last weekend.

Matthew Wolff

World Rank: 38

FedEx Cup Rank: 60

3M Open appearance: 3rd (2019 — champion, 2020 — 12th)

How’s he playing: A little better, which is good news. This tournament’s inaugural winner lost his game for a large stretch of this season after such a promising start to his career.

Wolff was withdrawing or missing cuts on the regular. He took a two-month break from competition ahead of the U.S. Open, where he finished 15th. Wolff hasn’t been able to build off that performance in a pair of subsequent starts, but perhaps returning to a place where he has experienced nothing but success will provide the 22-year-old with a needed jolt.

Stewart Cink

World Rank: 42

FedEx Cup Rank: 17

3M Open appearances: 2nd (2020 — 46th)

How’s he playing: It’s been a resurgence of sorts for the 2009 winner of The Open. The 48-year-old has won twice on the PGA Tour this season — The Safeway Open back in September and the RBC Heritage in April. Those victories have him in a good spot to reach the Tour Championship at the end of the season.

Cink missed the cut at The Open, which snapped his streak of eight straight cuts made.

Robert MacIntyre

World Rank: 48

FedEx Cup Rank: Not a PGA Tour member

3M Open appearance: 1st

How’s he playing: Good enough to earn a spot in this event. MacIntyre would not normally be exempt for the 3M Open, but he earned his spot with a top-10 finish at The Open, placing eighth.

The 24-year-old from Scotland is a rising international star. He made the cut in all four majors in 2021, finishing 12th at the Masters. Making the cut is a trademark for MacIntyre, who has missed just one cut all season, at The Players Championship

Sergio Garcia

World Rank: 52

FedEx Cup Rank: 38

3M Open appearances: 1st

How’s he playing: It has been a resurgent season for the 41-year-old Spaniard, who has a victory — the Sanderson Farms Championship back in October — and has finished in the top 20 in each of his past four starts, most recently a 19th-place showing at The Open.

Garcia is in contention to reach the Tour Championship, the season-ending tournament reserved for the top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings, for the first time since 2017.

Bubba Watson

World Rank: 56

FedEx Cup Rank: 68

3M Open appearance: 2nd (2020 — missed cut)

How’s he playing: The two-time Masters champ is playing better after a rough 2020 season.

Watson, 42, has top-20s in four of his past seven starts, including a sixth-place showing at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, his most recent outing.

Watson didn’t make the trip across the pond for The Open.

Rickie Fowler

World Rank: 104

FedEx Cup Rank: 124

3M Open appearances: 1st

How’s he playing: The reality is, while he is still easily a fan favorite and a big draw who will command large crowds this week in Blaine, Fowler currently is not one of the top players in the world. He failed to qualify for the U.S. Open and the Masters in 2021. He hasn’t won since early in the 2019 season.

The good news is, Fowler has improved of late, finishing eighth at the PGA Championship and 11th at the Memorial. But in his past three starts, his best finish is a 32nd-place finish at The Rocket Mortgage Classic. He finished 53rd at The Open last week.

• NOTE: Jason Kokrak, the 24th-ranked player in the world, was initially in the 3M Open field but withdrew over the weekend.