Cliff Hawkins
Tommy Fleetwood is set to make his first appearance of the PGA Tour restart this week at the 3M Open.

By Brian Wacker
Tommy Fleetwood will make his first start on the PGA Tour in four months at this week’s 3M Open, after having returned to the United States for the first time since the tour resumed play amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of his prep for the event, the 29-year-old Englishman also will take part in a nine-hole scramble on Wednesday.

Fleetwood will join Paul Casey, defending tournament champion Matthew Wolff and Will Gordon in a competition dubbed the 3M Open Compass Challenge. The group will play the back nine at TPC Twin Cities, with the match shown on Golf Channel, GOLFTV and the tour’s social channels from 3-5 p.m. EDT. The event will raise money to support organizations committed to fighting social injustices in the area in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Among the organisations that will benefit include the Lake Street Council, Urban Ventures and YWCAs of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Birdies will be worth $50,000, eagles $100,000 and a hole-in-one $150,000. There will also be various on-course challenges worth $50,000 apiece. Joining the group will be actor Josh Duhamel and Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph, with the two walking with the group for commentary.

This will mark the third time a Wednesday match will be played since the tour resumed its season last month. Last week at the Memorial, Jon Rahm and Tony Finau took on Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell in a charity skins game, while three weeks ago Bubba Watson, Harold Varner III, Wes Bryan and Jason Day played a friendly Wednesday nine-hole match as they prepared for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.