3M Open 2024 First-Round Leader Tips: Picks from 40/1 to 80/1

• 40/141.00 Akshay Bhatia has superb FRL form on US soil

• 60/161.00 Mackenzie Hughes has been starting fast

• 80/181.00 Patrick Fishburn is an in-form outsider

Weather forecast for Thursday

It may not be as hot as later in the week but Thursday temperatures in the mid-80s by mid-afternoon are more than welcome - especially for those who wore bobble hats to keep the cold at bay at Royal Troon.

Winds could also pick up a little after midday, rising from 5mph in the morning to perhaps double that in the afternoon although there's no obvious strong bias.

But in four of the five editions of this event, the morning scoring average has been lower so I'll pick two early and one late.

Akshay Bhatia @ 40/141.00

Akshay Bhatia gave this column a 40/141.00 winner in the Rocket Mortgage Classic at the end of June and I'm hoping for a repeat performance at the same price here.

Strong form correlations between that event and this help promote his cause and it's good to see the same price of 40s on offer again.

Bhatia, also a first-round leader in April's Texas Open, has been a regular fast starter in recent times.

Before claiming top spot after 18 holes at the Rocket Mortgage, his FRL positions over his three previous events read: 2-6-7.

We can ignore his 'fish out of water' missed cut in the Open Championship at Royal Troon and instead focus on the fact that this huge talent is in great form and has opened with 64s in his last two events on American soil.

Bhatia is an early starter at 07:18.

Mackenzie Hughes @ 60/161.00

I've gone for Mackenzie Hughes in my outright preview and I like him for first-round leader too at 60s.

Hughes, who has the added incentive of trying to book a Presidents Cup place on home soil, was top Canadian at Royal Troon last week.

An opening 69 put him fourth after round one and he closed his week with a 68 to finish 16th.

A week earlier he'd started out with a 66 in the Scottish Open and before heading to Scotland he'd finished day one of the Travelers Championship in sixth thanks to a 65.

Add in low openers at the RBC Heritage and Houston Open and he's landed inside the top six after 18 holes in four of his last 11 starts.

Hughes has made both his cuts here, shooting openers of 67 and 69, and on current form he looks a good price to hit the ground running again from his 07:40 tee-time.

Patrick Fishburn @ 80/181.00

For an afternoon starter, I'll try Patrick Fishburn from his 14:00 tee-time.

The 32-year-old became the first player to receive a grant from the Tony Finau Foundation in 2019 so, as Finau is the favourite and a former winner here, there's a nice story waiting to be written if Fishburn shows up on the leaderboard.

And there must be a decent chance of that on Thursday given the way he's been starting lately.

In his last three opeing rounds, Fishburn carded a 65 at the John Deere, a 66 in the ISCO Championship and a 65 in the Barracuda Championship.

The latter helped him post third spot and that means he now has seven top 25s in his last 10 starts.

It may well be his first appearance here but confidence is high and he's worth following.

Now read Dave's 3M Open outright preview here