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Utah’s former State Am champs in the U.S. Open at Oakmont

Having multiple golfers with Utah ties play in a U.S. Open is not unusual. This part, though, is unprecedented: Three former Utah State Amateur champions are competing this week at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.

Tony Finau (2006), Zac Blair (2009) and Preston Summerhays (2018 and ‘19) create a U.S. Open threesome unlike any other in Utah golf history, within the 156-player field. Here’s a look at their records in the championship and how they got to Oakmont:

Tony Finau

Appearing in the U.S. Open for the 10th time in 11 years, Finau qualified in multiple ways. His No. 41 position in the Official World Golf Ranking and a tie for third place in the 2024 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 were both sufficient.

The West High School graduate, 35, has posted two other top-10 finishes in the U.S. Open, among five cuts made. A closing 67 at Pinehurst is his best final-round score; he shot a 66 in the third round at Shinnecock Hills in 2018 on his way to a fifth-place finish.

Finau is No. 49 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings, comfortably within the top 70 to make the Playoffs but outside of the top 30 that would advance to the Tour Championship.

Thursday’s starting time: 11:58 a.m. MDT on No. 1, with Mackenzie Hughes and Chris Kirk.

Zac Blair

Blair has a knack of creating his own distinctions in pro golf, and here’s another one: Three times, he has advanced to the U.S. Open from the final qualifying site of Springfield (Ohio) Country Club.

His latest achievement required shooting 68-68 and surviving a 4-for-1 playoff for the last of four spots. Blair ultimately topped reinstated amateur John Peterson on the fourth extra hole.

Beyond the novelty of making his fourth U.S. Open start in 12 years, Blair needs a good showing at Oakmont to advance his career. With limited access to the 2025 PGA Tour schedule, the graduate of Fremont High School and BYU is No. 186 in the FedEx Cup standings. The top 100 golfers will have full status in 2026.

The 34-year-old Blair tied for 26th place last year at Pinehurst for his best U.S. Open finish.

Thursday’s starting time: 4:45 a.m. MDT on No. 10, with Scott Vincent and Alistair Docherty.

Preston Summerhays

Having just completed his Arizona State career, Summerhays (69-63) was the qualifying medalist at Valencia (California) Country Club.

He’s in the U.S. Open for the third time in this decade, although he missed the 36-hole cut in each of his first two appearances.

A Farmington native, Summerhays and his family spent summers in Davis County after moving to Arizona. That was the platform for his State Amateur success; he also won the 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur the week after his second State Am victory.

Summerhays, 22, made his professional debut last week in the Korn Ferry Tour’s BMW Pro-Am in South Carolina, having gained access for the rest of the season via his No. 7 finish in PGA Tour University. He was in the top 10 going into the final round, but posted a 77 and tied for 48th place, earning $4,303 in his first payday.

Summerhays’ uncle, Daniel, has played in four U.S. Opens, including the 2016 event at Oakmont, where he tied for eighth.

Thursday’s starting time: 10:41 a.m. MDT on No. 10, with Bryan Lee (a) and Guido Migliozzi.

2025 U.S. Open Championship Scoring

Feature written by Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe