Minimal vertex degree sum of a 3-path in plane maps

Let wₖ be the minimum degree sum of a path on k vertices in a graph. We prove for normal plane maps that: (1) if w₂ = 6, then w₃ may be arbitrarily big, (2) if w₂ < 6, then either w₃ ≤ 18 or there is a ≤ 15-vertex adjacent to two 3-vertices, and (3) if w₂ < 7, then w₃ ≤ 17.