North Oaks native Frankie Capan III was given the opportunity to play in next week’s 3M Open in Blaine on a sponsor’s exemption for the second consecutive summer.
He wants to do it. In his mind, he knows if he played well, he could potentially even win the home game, which would forever alter his golf career.
But, in his heart of hearts, the 24-year-old knew he had to make the difficult decision to pass on the only PGA Tour event in his home state.
“This is definitely the more difficult decision to make than playing,” Capan said via phone Monday. “However, I feel like, in life, the easy decision is not always the right one.”
Why would any rising professional skip out on the chance to play in a PGA Tour event, which provide the brightest lights and biggest purses?
Because, at this stage in Capan’s career, playing on a sponsor’s exemption is a one-off. Even a strong performance at TPC Twin Cities — short of a win, which would earn him a full exemption on Tour for the next two years — guaranteed little for his future. A top-10 finish would have gotten him into the Wyndham Championship on Aug. 8-11. But when you’re not a PGA Tour member, all those starts really represent are opportunities for paychecks.
Capan is seeking that membership and all that comes with it — the nearly guaranteed 20-plus chances to tee it up on Tour in a season and earn points to both maintain status and earn your way into lucrative events.
Capan is well on his way to earning membership for next season. The top 30 finishers on the Korn Ferry Tour’s season-long standings receive PGA Tour cards. Capan is currently No. 14 on the list with nine events to play.
Capan was just outside the top 30 at the time of last year’s 3M Open. He played the event in Blaine, finishing in a tie for 62nd, but then scuffled over the final seven tournaments of the Korn Ferry Tour season, logging just one top-40 finish.
His motivation for finishing the job this summer is high. So when he was called a couple weeks ago and informed of another opportunity to play in the 3M Open, he had a decision to make. He talked it over with his agent and decided that if he could log high enough finishes at the past two events in Illinois and Colorado to reach the minimum number of points that earned a PGA Tour card last season — 862 — he would play in Minnesota.
“My goal every week is to do my best and put myself in the best position to win. So I wasn’t consciously thinking of that number,” Capan said. “However, I figured (if I was able) to get to that number, I would feel a lot more comfortable playing in the 3M this year.”
He finished in a tie for 16th in Illinois and then missed the cut in Colorado, leaving him with 784 points. So instead of playing at the 3M Open at the end of the month, he’ll play the Korn Ferry Tour event that week, the NV5 Invitational in Glenview, Ill., in an attempt to move further up the points list.
“As unfortunate as it is to have to say ‘No’ to the 3M, it’s probably best for me right now and with what I’m doing,” Capan said.
Because while everyone in the top 30 at season’s end earns his PGA Tour card, the higher you finish on the list, the higher priority you’ll have for getting into events on the top tour the following year.
For example, Ben Silverman finished fifth in last year’s Korn Ferry Tour standings, and has made 19 starts this season. While Ryan McCormick, who finished 27th, has made just 15 starts. The more starts you get, the more opportunities you have to grab points and make money.
Capan’s goals — always lofty — are to finish the season atop the points list and set the record for the Tour’s best single-season scoring average. He currently is averaging 68.9 strokes per round. He says anything in the 67s would suffice.
The way he has played this season — with eight top-20 finishes and four top-10s — it’s tough to bet against him.
“That one would be really cool to me, because not only would you finish No. 1, but you might have arguably one of the best careers on the Korn Ferry Tour ever,” he said, “which would be pretty special.”
Capan seems confident that he is making the right decision to forego the upcoming 3M Open, but it’s clear it still eats at him a bit for a couple reasons — one of them being his knowledge that he can compete at that level right now.
“I still want to play. Because you play and win (on the PGA Tour), it’s better (benefits) than finishing No. 1 (in the Korn Ferry Tour season). That’s the tough part,” he said. “That’s the thing. I know I can go, and if I play well, there’s a chance I would win. There still is a little bit of that going on (in my mind).”
But ever since he cemented his decision on Friday, he has tried to keep that internal voice to a minimum.
Capan also wishes he could play this month in front of the hometown fans, who showed him ample support at last year’s 3M Open. Social media cheering only grew when he made the cut at this year’s U.S. Open while toting a Vikings bag around Pinehurst No. 2.
“I know there are a lot of people in Minnesota that are very supportive of me in my golf journey. It’s something that I don’t take for granted,” Capan said. “I appreciate their support, whether I’m close with them and they’re texting me, or I just kind of know they’re following along from afar.”
Capan noted it was “not an enjoyable conversation” for him when he had to inform 3M Open tournament director Mike Welch of his decision to pass on the exemption.
“I know they’ll have guys,” he said. “I look forward to teeing it up there next year — probably even more so.”
Because the next time he plays a PGA Tour event in his backyard, he intends for it to be as a full-fledged Tour member.
“Hopefully,” he said, “I’ll be playing in the 3M for the next 25 years.”
Briefly
The 3M Open announced Monday that Stillwater native and Hill-Murray grad Ben Warian will play the event next week on a sponsor’s exemption. Warian reached the NCAA Championships as an individual in each of his final two seasons with the Gophers, and has been highly competitive in U.S. Open final qualifiers in consecutive years.
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