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Bank of Utah Championship: Zac Blair moves into the top 20
Zac Blair has made enough birdies (plus an eagle) to be contending for the title in the Bank of Utah Championship.
“Few too many bogeys,” Blair acknowledged after Saturday’s third round at Black Desert Resort, as eight birdies and four bogeys added up to a 67 that was just enough to move him into the top 20. He’ll enter Sunday’s final round tied for 19th place.
Zac Blair and caddy Nikolas Sorisi discuss an upcoming putt on hole 17 at Black Desert.
In three rounds, Blair has made 18 birdies and an eagle. His birdie total is tied for fifth in the field heading into Sunday’s final round.
In his first PGA TOUR event as a professional, Michael Brennan took the lead following the third round of play.
On the scoreboard, sponsor-exempt player Michael Brennan (67-65-64) increased his lead to two strokes at 17 under par. He’s trailed by defending champion Matt McCarty (69-65-64).
Blair provided a lot of thrills during an afternoon when fellow Ogden native Connor Howe faded from a tie for sixth place to T52 in his PGA Tour debut. Among the highlights were Blair’s hitting his tee shot to within 15 inches of the hole on the par-3 No. 3, knocking a fairway wood to 8 feet for another birdie on the par-4 No. 13 and making a 13-foot birdie putt on the par-4 No. 14 after driving over the green and then aiming a creative chip shot more than 90 degrees away from the flagstick.
He labeled that result “as bad as you could do, I guess.” Yet if you know Blair, you know he enjoyed using some imagination, as he went through a long discussion (mostly with himself) before playing that shot.
“I mean, there’s a lot of that out here, honestly; those cool, little recovery shots around the green,” he said. “It’s a fun place for that, for sure.”
Blair will hope to put everything together in the final round. His best result this season is a tie for 16th in the Dominican Republic in April.
Howe will try to salvage what he can from this experience. Having completed his second round Saturday morning, he was only two strokes off the lead after a 68-66 start. But he bogeyed his first three holes in the afternoon and never got much going, settling for a 74.
Connor and Hunter Howe during Saturday’s third round action at the Bank of Utah Championship.
Between rounds Saturday, Howe said, “I’m proud of how my game has developed over the years. I don’t even feel like I’ve had my best stuff hitting-wise the first two rounds, but … around the greens and putting has kept me in it.”
His ball-striking troubles caught up to him in the third round, though. Afterward, he labeled himself “a little disappointed … not the start I imagined.”
Howe said his swing was not off by much, but he “just kind of put myself in tough spots,” he said. “This course is penal.”
Black Desert Resort’s famed lava did create one Golf Channel moment for the Howe twins. Connor and his brother/caddie, Hunter, consulted a rules official about some boulders in his line, after his drive went just across the cart path on the par-4 No. 13. The rocks were defined as loose impediments, evoking images of a Tiger Woods episode at TPC Scottsdale.
The official told the Howes, “If you can move ‘em, move ‘em.”
Hunter “just got in there and put his shoulder to a couple of ‘em,” Connor said. “I’ll have to increase his pay a little bit. … He worked hard for that one.”
Howe followed with one of his best swings of the round, a 4-iron shot to within 7 feet of the hole. But it would have become a better story if he had converted the birdie putt.
2025 Bank of Utah Championship daily recaps written by Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe. Photography by Fairways Media/Garrit Johnson and Randy Dodson.