BLAINE, Minn. (AP) — Ben Kohles eagled the final hole for a 9-under 62 and a two-shot lead Thursday after the first round of the 3M Open, leaving top-ranked Scottie Scheffler three shots back.
Emiliano Grillo, Jackson Koivun and Gary Woodland opened with 64s, and Scheffler topped the group at 65 in his first appearance in the event.
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Jackson Koivun hits from the sixth tee during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Scottie Scheffler reacts after his shot on the 12th green during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Emiliano Grillo, of Argentina, hits on the 16th hole during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Scottie Scheffler hits from the second tee during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Ben Kohles hits from the 16th hole during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Coming off a fourth-place finish Sunday in the British Open, Scheffler was 1 under through eight holes, then birdied five of the next eight.
“I didn’t hit a bunch of fairways early, but I was able to kind of manage my way around and get out of some trouble areas without making any bogeys. That was important keeping my momentum going,” he said. “Once I started to hit fairways and gave myself some looks, was able to start making some birdies.”
Kohles’ second shot from 241 yards out on the par-5 finishing hole settled 4 feet from the cup. The short putt capped a career-best round for the 36-year-old who has split the season between the PGA and Korn Ferry tours.
In a nine-hole stretch beginning on No. 6, he birdied every other hole and added another birdie at No. 15 to tie for the lead at 7 under.
“I was just in control all day,” he said.
Three weeks ago, Kohles nearly got his first career win, but a double bogey on the final hole resulted in a third-place finish at the John Deere Classic.
“Of course you would like the outcome to be different, but you’ve just got to keep putting the pedal down and see where you go,” he said.
Koivun birdied four holes on the front nine and three on the back during a bogey-free round at the TPC Twin Cities where scores are traditionally low. In the tournament’s seven previous years, the average winning score was 19 under.
“Playing smart, playing for a score. Just executing when the time is right and getting aggressive when you can,” he said. “Just felt like I did a good job of taking advantage of that today.”
In his 13th tour start, but just third as a professional, 64 is the lowest score in Koivun’s 43 career rounds. The 21-year-old turned professional in June after dominating at Auburn, including a school-record 11 wins.
Grillo made birdie on five of his first seven holes and added three straight birdies starting at No. 12. However, he played the final three holes in 1-over.
“Any day beating Scottie Scheffler is a good day, so I’ll take that,” he said.
Defending champion Kurt Kitayama shot 68.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Jackson Koivun hits from the sixth tee during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Scottie Scheffler reacts after his shot on the 12th green during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Emiliano Grillo, of Argentina, hits on the 16th hole during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Scottie Scheffler hits from the second tee during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
Ben Kohles hits from the 16th hole during the first round of the 3M Open golf tournament at the Tournament Players Club Thursday, July 23, 2026, in Blaine, Minn. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)
OGUNQUIT, Maine (AP) — Giant metal roosters are popping up on lawns in and around a community in southern Maine and as far away as New Zealand in support of a 6-year-old autistic girl and her love of the colorful creations.
David and Sara LeBlanc had a rotating display of the roughly 6-foot-tall (1.8-meter-tall) ornaments decorating their Ogunquit lawn until officials in the small coastal town deemed them to be impermissible advertising for their attached restaurant, The Omelette Factory.
The couple initially resisted the town's removal order, insisting the roosters were meant to comfort their daughter Pyper, not advertise their business.
“Roosters don’t lay eggs,” David LeBlanc told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
But they eventually came to an agreement with the town allowing them to keep two of the roosters in front of their home.
As for what to do with the others? That's where friends, neighbors and complete strangers came in.
The LeBlancs took in Pyper as a foster child and later adopted her. She arrived with a stuffed rooster, and roosters became her favorite animal, her parents said. When her father took her to a Tractor Supply Store to play with baby chicks last year, she noticed a large rooster sculpture for sale and asked her dad what it was saying.
“I think he wants to come home,” David LeBlanc said he told her.
Eventually, their collection grew to more than two dozen roosters, which they set up in batches for seasonal and holiday displays. Pyper took to hiding behind one each morning while waiting for the school bus, which her parents said helps her regulate her emotions and navigate transitions.
But the couple ruffled feathers when they added a rooster to their restaurant’s logo, which is featured on its shirts and other merchandise. Although the LeBlancs said they view the rooster as a “family crest,” the town saw their lawn statues as advertising.
A code enforcement officer, Tyler McOsker, issued the LeBlancs $450 in fines and ordered them in April to "remove all unpermitted signage, including but not limited to rooster statues."
McOsker didn't respond to an email requesting comment. But he told the Zoning Board of Appeals in June that he had no idea the roosters were connected to Pyper’s autism diagnosis until the couple appealed the fines. He also pointed to a May 2025 article in a local weekly newspaper that described the roosters as a “fun and unconventional way to announce that The Omelette Factory is officially open for business.”
“That, to me, is the definition of a sign. You’re announcing you’re opening,” McOsker told the board.
David LeBlanc said the reporter misinterpreted a customer’s joke about the roosters serving as an “Open” sign.
“We never said that,” he said.
The zoning board discussed the issue last month. At one point, board member Jay Smith voiced frustration at the lack of medical proof that the roosters were necessary.
“I’m inclined to think there may be some merit to a comfort animal on the front lawn … but the point is, how many does it take?” he said.
Autism spectrum disorder is a complex developmental condition that affects different people in different ways, and comfort objects are frequently incorporated into therapy for autistic children to help manage transitions, support emotional regulation and provide a sense of familiarity, Beverley Cush Evans, a professor of special education at Lesley University, told the AP.
“It’s part of who they are and what they need," she said.
Eventually, the board decided it lacked the authority to rescind the fines but tried to accommodate the family by granting a disability variance that essentially deemed two roosters necessary for Pyper’s access to the home.
“I want to emphasize we’re talking about two roosters. If they have babies or multiply in the night — no,” another board member said.
The variance requires the roosters to be part of a railing, however, and for now, they are just bolted to the steps. The couple has been fined another $500 for noncompliance.
David LeBlanc said he is moving on from the dispute and is focusing on the good that has come from it. The family has given roosters to others to “foster” and show their support for autism acceptance, starting with a man named Sam who lives up the road. Though Pyper was sad to see them go, she understands the adage about making lemonade, LeBlanc said.
“She understands that the roosters being taken away were the lemons, and Sam and his friends, fostering them, are the lemonade,” he said. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
Thanks to news coverage and a Roosters of Ogunquit Facebook page, the story has spread far and wide. One supporter wrote in from New Zealand sharing pictures of his children with a rooster statue in their yard.
Hetal Patel, who owns a motel in nearby Wells and has a relative with autism, wanted to buy a rooster after hearing about Pyper. They were sold out in the Ogunquit area, though, so she and her son went to New Hampshire last week to get one.
“We found the last one,” she said. “We couldn’t wait to put it out. People were so supportive, they were honking. It was so nice to see all the love for Pyper.”
Breakfast is served at The Omelette Factory, a restaurant whose owners are in dispute with the town over large tin roosters, in Ogunquit, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Pyper Leblanc examines a pair of tin roosters after they were set up at the Hilton Winn Farm in Ogunquit, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Pyper Leblanc plays by two tin roosters displayed at the Hilton Winn Farm in Ogunquit, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Large tin roosters decorate the entrance to the home of David and Sarah Leblanc, which is attached to their breakfast restaurant, The Omelette Factory, at left, in Ogunquit, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Pyper Leblanc shows her favorite tin rooster, one of dozens that now can be seen all over Ogunquit, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Pyper Leblanc kisses a tin rooster goodbye after a visit to the Hilton Winn Farm in Ogunquit, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A large tin rooster stands alongside Main Street as a sign of solidarity for a young girl with autism in Ogunquit, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A tin rooster stands outside the Wells Moody Motel in Wells, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
A small rooster stands outside a home as a sign of solidarity for a young girl with autism in Ogunquit, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
David LeBlanc sets up a rooster in front of the Memorial Library in Ogunquit, Maine, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Tin roosters flank Rte. 1 in Wells, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Beach-goers pass by a large tin rooster set up outside a motel in solidarity with a young girl with autism in Ogunquit, Maine, Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
