This rookie’s press conference revealed more about him than his game

BLAINE, Minn. — Frankie Capan III shared a secret. Midway through his press conference at the 3M Open on Tuesday, the hometown kid reflected on being back at this tournament for the second time in his career, although this time with a spot he had earned.

Two years ago when he was a full-time Korn Ferry Tour member, Capan (pronounced sap-in) received a sponsor’s exemption into the 3M Open and tied for 62nd. On that Sunday, he said the next time he’s here he wants to earn his spot. He stayed true to his word and declined an invite last year, but now he’s back as a 25-year-old PGA Tour rookie, having secured his card last season.

Now, back to that secret.

“I actually ended up watching my press conference from two years ago last night,” Capan said. “I haven’t given too many of these yet, so I just kind of wanted to refresh myself a little bit on it. And it was funny because when I said that and listened to it last night, you know, it is funny to be here now, and I don’t want to say ironic but I feel like so much has happened in the last two years from the first time I competed in this tournament as a sponsor exemption and now being here on the PGA Tour.”

The press conference was long — 30 minutes — and insightful, thorough and honest, the opposite of what you might expect from someone who isn’t used to being in this position on the big tour. But as more questions were thrown Capan’s way, more smart, revealing responses were volleyed back. Thus the discourse continued. And he wasn’t just talking; he was thinking. He didn’t punt on any of them.

“I think it’s part of my job and responsibility to portray to you all what’s going on in my head or what I’m thinking or whatever questions you ask, and I think just doing my best to help you guys understand what’s going on and just dictating that in the proper way,” he said. “I enjoy reflecting and chatting. I think every single week for whatever, 30 weeks a year at a certain point, yeah, I could see how certain guys don’t want to come every single time. But at the same time, like I said, I think it’s a bit of your responsibility. We have fans, we have sponsors, we have people that take care of us. I think it’s just part of what it is.”

Capan is from North Oaks, about 20 minutes from here, but growing up he split time between the Twin Cities (summers) and Arizona (winters). After stints at the University of Alabama and Florida Gulf Coast he turned pro in 2022, and in his second full season on Korn Ferry Tour last season, shot 58, won the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, was the runner-up in two tournaments and compiled seven top 10s. He finished third on the season-long points race to earn his Tour card for this season — and receive a more formal invite to his hometown tournament — although Capan hasn’t found that same success yet this year.

He tied for 12th at The American Express in his second start of the season and earned $169,400 but his best finish since then was a third with teammate Jake Knapp at the Zurich Classic.

He’s made seven cuts in 20 starts.

Capan said he’s been working on “simple fundamentals” like alignment, grip and ball positions. He ranks 18th in Strokes Gained: Putting but 174th in SG: Total. His short game has always been great — he ranked near the top in scrambling and putting last year — but is still looking for the rest to follow suit.

“I think it’s easy to get in a little bit of a rut and you don’t have your best results and you think the world’s ending,” he said. “But at the same time, just tweak a few things here and there, and I think we’re on the right track.”

One of the most noteworthy moments from Capan’s Tuesday press conference came midway through, when he was asked how he would define a successful rookie season.

“That’s a good question,” he said. Capan then sat and thought, silently, for about 20 seconds. The lengthy pause at first felt odd, but the longer it went on, it had the opposite effect. He wasn’t stumped — he just cared that much about searching for the right answer.

“No matter what happens, it’s going to be a successful season,” he said. “I think for me what I’ve learned about this game is whenever you’re learning, you’re really having success. It may not seem like the answer you might want to hear, but at the same time for me I feel like the more I learn about myself and the more I learn about this game, the better I am.”

He went on, discussing the danger of outcome-driven goals and talking about how excited he was to start the season, about playing to the best of his ability, about taking advantage of opportunities and enjoying his time on the course. The other stuff follows that, he said. He mentioned “the process” often. He even brought up Scottie Scheffler’s viral Open Championship press conference and said he could relate to Scheffler loving the grind and the work and worrying about the results later.

“I think the way you get there is by just sticking to your game plan and trusting your process and staying present and disciplined in doing that,” he said.

The Wyndham Championship next week is the final stop of the PGA Tour regular season, and Capan will need to make a big move (this week and next) to qualify for the playoffs and automatically keep his card for 2026. Otherwise, it’s back to the Korn Ferry Tour.

“I feel like I’ve grown the most through unfortunate circumstances or struggles,” he said. “I remember thinking back to my rookie year on the Korn Ferry Tour, I had 10, 15 of my buddies getting their PGA Tour card and I was on the outside looking in and thought, man, I don’t want to spend another year on the Korn Ferry Tour, but at the same time I think it just made me work that much harder and learn that much more about my game and where I needed to improve. I felt like I was able to have a really good attitude last year. I would say like, things aren’t happening to you, they’re happening for you. I think no matter what it is, positive or negative, everything’s happening for you for a reason. Just trying to get the most of whatever it may be, good or bad.”

Finally, since it was fresh in his memory, Capan was asked how he’d grade his press conference from two years ago. He said maybe an eight or nine out of 10.

“I was very impressed with it,” he said, smiling.

He should be with this one, too.