Paul Hodowanic, The Associated Press
BLAINE, Minn. — Scott Piercy shot 64, seven under par, on Friday to take a three-stroke lead in the 3M Open.
Piercy has a total of 129 minus 13. He is looking for a fifth PGA victory.
Emiliano Grillo is his closest pursuer after a 65, including an eagle.
Third in the board, Callum Tarren signed a 63 card, the best of the day. It is five strokes from the top.
Tarren narrowly missed a 46-foot putt on the final hole, finishing with four birdies on each half.
Tony Finau (68), Robert Streb (67), Tom Hoge (68), Sungjae Im (70) and Doug Ghim (68) are six strokes behind.
Starting on the back nine, Piercy birdied on his first four holes. On the front nine, he added three birdies and saved a par with a 10-foot putt.
“It’s been a while since I played up to my abilities,” said Piercy, missing the weekend in four of his last six tournaments.
“It feels good to achieve these kinds of scores. There is a lot of work to do, but I will go into the third round feeling very confident.”
The 43-year-old Piercy is 138th in the standings. Full PGA status is reserved for the top 125, so he must have success in the next few weeks.
Roger Sloan (69) is the top Canadian at 139.
His compatriots Michael Gligic (69) and Adam Hadwin (75) are minus 1 and plus 1, respectively.
Hadwin committed a double bogey and five bogeys.