Auburn golfer Brendan Valdes earns top 20 finish at 3M Open
The 22-year-old finished his tournament with a better score than many veteran PGA Tour members such as Ricky Fowler, Max Homa, and the 2024 3M Open champion, Jhonattan Vegas. Valdes has now made the cut in his first two career PGA Tour events.
Valdes set the golf media into a frenzy with his back nine performance in his first round on Thursday, birdieing seven of his final nine holes to finish with a bogey-free round. The opening round 64 put Valdes right at the top of the leaderboard after Thursday, before he struggled on Friday, finishing even to hold firm at 7-under par heading into the weekend.
The Orlando, Florida native re-found some magic over the weekend, shooting a 3-under par 68 on 'Moving Day' before ending his tournament with a 5-under par 66 on Sunday. His 15-under par showing was three strokes within the top 10, and eight strokes behind eventual champion Kurt Kitayama's 23-under par.
Now two events into his PGA career, Valdes has shown the ability to contend for a tournament title very soon. The former Tiger will likely have to wait a few weeks before he can attempt to capture his first top 10 performance, as the PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoffs begin in August.
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