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4H AGO

The First Look: FedExCup Fall action continues at Bank of Utah Championship

5 Min Read

The First Look

Ben Kohles’ amazing ace leads Shots of the Week from inaugural Bank of Utah Championship

Ben Kohles’ amazing ace leads Shots of the Week from inaugural Bank of Utah Championship

    Written by Adam Stanley

    The PGA TOUR is back in Utah – with plenty on the line.

    With just three tournaments left in the 2025 schedule after this week at the Bank of Utah Championship, every shot – and every FedExCup point – counts even more than usual.

    The field is chock-full of proven winners, up-and-coming stars and more as they take on the very unique Black Desert Resort – which was cut through a lava field.

    Here’s everything else you need to know.

    FIELD NOTES: Fresh off his solo third at the Baycurrent Classic Michael Thorbjornsen is back in action. Thorbjornsen has four top-10 finishes so far this season and is looking to extract a little revenge in Utah, as he withdrew last year after an opening-round 67… Alex Noren is the top-ranked golfer in the world teeing it up in Utah. Noren won twice this summer on the DP World Tour and finished tied for 27th in Japan after joining Luke Donald’s leadership squad as a vice captain for the winning European Team at the Ryder Cup… Maverick McNealy returns to action on the PGA TOUR after he finished T13 at the Procore Championship. McNealy, who was tied for 23rd in the FedExCup standings after the TOUR Championship, had seven top-10 results with five of those being inside the top five this season… Billy Horschel hasn’t teed it up on American soil on the PGA TOUR since April after undergoing surgery on his hip. He returned to the TOUR at the Baycurrent Classic where he finished T54… Matt McCarty will defend his title in Utah after his breakthrough TOUR title a year ago. McCarty’s best finish of the season was a T4 at the RBC Canadian Open and comes into his title defense off a T14 in Japan, where he shot an incredible final-round 60 – which featured a run of eight birdies in a row… With fewer and fewer weeks remaining in the FedExCup Fall, each event is increasing in its importance. Max Homa sits on the bubble at No. 100 in the FedExCup Fall standings and is in the field in Utah. There will be plenty of moving pieces from now through the end of November.


    Behind the scenes with Matt McCarty after win at Black Desert

    Behind the scenes with Matt McCarty after win at Black Desert


    SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: Michael Brennan is looking to continue his excellent play from the PGA TOUR Americas circuit this summer onto the PGA TOUR – and, perhaps, follow in the footsteps of last year’s winner in Utah, Matt McCarty. Brennan won three times on PGA TOUR Americas in a four-week stretch and closed the season with back-to-back top fives to earn the No. 1 spot in the Fortinet Cup standings. This marks his first PGA TOUR start since the U.S. Open in 2023... Kihei Akina, the 18-year-old freshman at BYU, will tee it up in Utah on TOUR for the second year in a row. His best finish so far at BYU is a T6… Carson Lundell, a BYU alum, Connor Howe, a Utah native and two-time all-ACC selection at Georgia Tech, and Utah Tech freshman David Liechty (the first golfer in school history to make the match-play portion of the U.S. Amateur) will make their PGA TOUR debuts… Newly minted pro, and Utah native, Preston Summerhays, will play his fourth PGA TOUR event in 2025. Summerhays had two top-10s this year on the Korn Ferry Tour.

    SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: As part of the Aon Next 10, players ranked Nos. 51-60 through the FedExCup Fall will earn their way into two early season 2026 Signature Events – the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational… With his runner-up result in Japan, Max Greyserman moved from No. 58 to No. 51 in the standings… Garrick Higgo finished T4 at the Baycurrent Championship and was the lone golfer to jump inside the top 60 in the standings. He moved from No. 62 to No 57… Mackenzie Hughes, who was at No. 60, was bumped to No. 64.

    FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.

    The Bank of Utah Championship is the fourth event of the FedExCup Fall.

    Nos. 51-70 in the FedExCup at the start of the fall have already clinched their top-100 eligibility for the following year, but are competing for spots in the first two Signature Events following The Sentry.

    Nos. 71 and beyond can earn one of the 10 spots available in those Signature Events but they also are competing to finish in the top 100 of the FedExCup standings at the conclusion of the fall.

    At the end of the FedExCup Fall, those who rank from 101-125 on the final FedExCup Fall Points List will have conditional status for the 2025 PGA TOUR Season.

    COURSE: Black Desert Resort, par 71, 7,421 yards. The course boasts wide fairways and there’s just two water hazards in play. This is, essentially, a brand-new golf course as the Tom Weiskopf/Phil Smith course had its front nine open in November 2022 and the back nine open in May 2023. Fifty yards of length have been added to the scorecard from last year to this year.

    Haeran Ryu won the inaugural Black Desert Championship on the LPGA Tour in May 2025 at the same course. She finished at 26 under.

    72-HOLE RECORD: 261, Matt McCarty (2025)

    18-HOLE RECORD: 60, Adam Svensson (first round, 2025)

    LAST TIME: Matt McCarty continued his incredible run through last summer with a win on the PGA TOUR, taking the inaugural Bank of Utah Championship. McCarty had won three times already on the Korn Ferry Tour through the summertime to earn an automatic promotion to the PGA TOUR and in just his third TOUR start, he was a winner again – and it was never really in doubt. McCarty won by three shots over Stephan Jaeger, while Lucas Glover and Kevin Streelman finished at 19 under, a shot further back, and tied for third.

    How to follow (all times ET):

    Television:

    • Thursday-Friday: 5-8 p.m. (Golf Channel, NBC Sports app)
    • Saturday-Sunday: 4:30-7:30 p.m. (Golf Channel, NBC Sports app)

    PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+:

    • Thursday-Friday: 9:45 a.m.-8 p.m.
    • Thursday-Friday: 2-8 p.m.
    • Saturday-Sunday: 3-7:30 p.m.

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