Bank Of Utah Championship

Bank Of Utah Championship

After a trip to Japan and a weeks break the PGA Tour returns to US Soil this week.

The week in Japan ended disappointingly for us as Sahith Theegala who had been in a good position to bag us some place money if nothing more, stalled on the final day. With this following on the heels of Garrick Higgo failing to close things out for us on day four at the Sanderson Farms, Sundays have not been our friend so far this campaign.

The event in Japan was won by Xander Schauffele who closed out in style to put some gloss on what has otherwise been a disappointing year for him.

So we move on with the fourth event of the Fall series,, the renamed Bank of Utah Championship. The event, which is taking place for the second time takes place at the Black Desert Resort GC in Ivins, Utah.

When the announcement for the tournament was made in 2024 it was confirmed as a four year agreement so expect to see the event on the schedule through 2027 at least.

The field in all honesty is not great and for the second year running Utah’s main golf star Tony Finau is conspicuous by his absence.

The market is headed up by Maverick McNealy and Alex Noren, they are then followed by Michael Thorbjornsen and Kurt Kitayama.

COURSE

The Black Desert Resort GC is a par 71 measuring just under 7400yds. The course features three par fives and four par threes.

The course was designed by Tom Weiskopf and Phil Smith and opened in 2023. The layout features wide undulating fairways chiselled out of fields of black lava rock so expect stunning scenery!

The other course on tour designed by Weiskopf is TPC Craig Ranch host of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson. In addition he was responsible for the redesign at the Torrey Pines North Course.

The par four 14^th is driveable and possibly the par four 5^th as they both measure around 320yds on the card. The latter though features an elevated green.

The par three 3^rd is modelled after the 6^th at Riviera and features a bunker in the middle of the green.

The greens are Bentgrass.

The main thing to bear in mind is that the course is affected by altitude as it is on average 2700ft above sea level so it will not play to its full yardage.

HISTORY

Let’s look at the top ten from last years event.

1 M McCarty

2 S Jaeger

T3 L Glover, K Streelman

5 M Schmid

T6 H English, J Highsmith

T8 N Hardy, L Hodges, H Norlander.

As regular readers will know last year we landed on Matt McCarty due to his links to desert/altitude golf through a combination of his upbringing in Arizona and his strong form on the Korn Ferry both here in Utah and at altitude in Colorado. It was very satisfying then to hear him talking about how much the track reminded him of ‘back home’ and how comfortable he felt here.

As I said last year then I would very much look for clues in courses played at altitude on tour and/or in the desert.

These include the CJ Cup when formerly at Nine Bridges, the Barracuda, the CJ Cup at the Summit Club in Las Vegas and the Shriners. Both of the latter two are played about 3000ft above sea level so very comparable to this week. In addition we have the WGC Mexico played at Chapultepec from 2017 through to 2020 and most recently the BMW Championship in 2024, which was held at Castle Pines in Colorado at 6000 feet above sea level.

Of these I would see the Shriners at TPC Summerlin as the event that could give us the best guide as not only is the course a desert course at comparable altitude levels but Las Vegas is less than a couple of hours from this weeks venue so I would expect those who have performed well there and those who base themselves there to be very comfortable here. In addition like this weeks venue TPC Summerlin is a par 71 featuring three par fives.

A key pointer then to no doubt to finding McCarty was the regular Korn Ferry event held in Utah, The Utah Championship presented by Zion Bank, while the Ascendant Championship played in Colorado on the Korn Ferry Tour at Altitude is also worth looking at.

 WEATHER FORECAST

One thing we don’t have to worry about this week is the weather! Expect wall to wall sunshine. Temperatures will cool down slightly as the week progresses though and are expected to settle in the mid to high 70s.

Wind does not look to be an issue for the week as a whole although Saturday does show the potential for some 20mph + gusts.

As I always say though…this could all change!

PICKS

I have gone with five players this week as follows;

DAVIS THOMPSON – 20/1 – 2.5pts e/w 1/5 odds 1^st 8 - FINISHED MC

As an East Coast guy Davis Thompson isn’t someone you would immediately expect to thrive in desert conditions or at altitude, however his record on this front since joining the big league is strikingly impressive.

Firstly if we go back to his debut full season on the PGA Tour 22/23, his best performance came in the desert in the American Express when he finished second. Meanwhile his third best result came in the Shriners where he finished 12^th.

Roll on in to 2024 and until his runner up finish in the opposite field event in Myrtle Beach his best performance in a ho hum start to the year, had been when 15^th in Phoenix, while later in the year he was fifth again in the Shriners. Meanwhile if we go back to his year on the Korn Ferry tour in 2022 we find that he was sixth at altitude in the Ascendant in Colorado. For whatever reason then Davis clearly enjoys the type of conditions we will see this week.

Finally from a correlating form point of view I do like the fact that his maiden tour win came on bentgrass greens on a par 71 featuring three par fives over at the John Deere.

It is fair to say that Thompson is yet to really catch fire in 2025 as while he has only missed four cuts in regular tour events he is yet to post anything better than a tenth at the Players. It is for that reason then that he finds himself at 75^th in the Fedex standings heading in to this week and needing a couple of big performances to push his way in to the top 60 to bag a spot in the first two Signature events of 2026.

Of late though the signs have been encouraging as his last three starts have seen him finish no worse than 21^st.

With a good chunk of his starts this year then coming in Signature event company this is certainly a drop in class here and I’ll happily take the 26yr old to flourish again this week in conditions he seems to like.

SAHITH THEEGALA – 40/1 – 1.5pts e/w 1/5 odds 1^st 8 - FINISHED 27th

Next up I will give another chance to Sahith Theegala who we were on in Japan last time out.

For the first three days in Japan Theegala looked like he was going to at least land a share of the place money for us, however a sloppy double bogey to end his third round leaked in to a disappointing Sunday, which saw him stall on a day of low scoring and fall down the leaderboard.

A disappointing finish then to the week for Sahith and us, but once the dust had settled on the trip east I am sure there were plenty of positives to take from the week.

As noted when putting Theegala up in Japan his 2025 has been blighted by injury however he is now finally healthy again and is desperate to finish the year on a positive note. After a 38^th at the Procore then the 27^th place in Japan where he ranked first around the greens and fifth for the week in approach play was hugely encouraging.

A Look at Theegala’s record in the desert/at altitude also offers encouragement as he has shown a great liking for TPC Scottsdale where he has twice finished in the top five and of course came close to winning.

In an event then when real quality is thin on the ground Theegala looks great value to stick with to build on his recent positive showings.

TAYLOR MONTGOMERY – 50/1 – 1pt E/W – 1/5 odds 1^st 10 - FINISHED MC

As someone born and bred in Las Vegas if anyone is going to be comfortable in these type of conditions you would expect it to be Taylor Montgomery. It is fair to say though that although he has a fifth place finish to his name at the American Express, his record as a whole in desert conditions on the PGA Tour is patchy with his best performance in three starts in the Shriners being 15^th, while he has missed the cut in two starts at the Barracuda and in this event last year. In the plus column though two trips to Utah on the Korn Ferry including one earlier this year have seen him finish runner up on both occasions.

What we can clearly see with Taylor though is that he is very much a momentum player who when he finds form can string a run of big finishes together.

To back this up if we look at his debut full year on the PGA Tour 22/23, he played superbly from week one when third at the Procore all the way though to that fifth at the Amex banking eight top 15 finishes in nine starts. Meanwhile if we go back to his last full year on the Korn Ferry in 2022 he finished the season with four straight top eight finishes.

Coming more up to date it is fair to say that 2024 and 2025 have seen Taylor struggle, with a shoulder injury derailing him in 2024.

This year though since missing six cuts in a row earlier in the year Montgomery has stepped things up making six of his last seven cuts on the PGA Tour, while his last three starts have seen him post a 12^th a 30^th and most recently a seasons best sixth at the Sandersons. As a result Taylor is now up to 130^th in the Fedex Fall standings and with a few more big weeks could yet make the top 100.

At the Sandersons the 30yr old talked about how he’s been “working his ass off” and playing great in practice, including shooting 58 in the desert at Shadow Creek, however, until his sixth at the Sanderson Farms,  he just hadn’t yet been able to translate this to four strong rounds on the PGA Tour.

It is clear though that confidence is growing.

The winner here last year Matt McCarty is known as one of the strongest putters on the PGA Tour and this is certainly something he has in common with Montgomery who currently sits second on this front. I’ll take Taylor then to keep his recent momentum going and produce a big week in conditions that, despite last years missed cut here, should really suit him.

KARL VILIPS – 80/1 – 1pt E/W – 1/5 odds 1^st 8 - FINISHED MC

We landed on Karl Vilips when he bagged the trophy in Puerto Rico earlier this year and there are definitely some pointers leading me to think Karl could triumph again this week and take home his second PGA trophy.

Truth be told it has been a fairly disappointing year for Karl since that win in March with a string of missed cuts and just one other top ten, which came in the Zurich pairs event.

Of late though there have been more positive signs as he made the cut at the Wyndham, where he finished 19^th before finishing 47^th at the Procore and 40^th in Japan.

An upturn in form no doubt then but what really catches my eye is that Vilips bagged the trophy in Utah last year on the Korn Ferry Tour while he also finished 13^th in the Ascendent in Colorado at altitude. Clearly then Karl for whatever reason is comfortable at altitude and should have great vibes returning to Utah.

While he hasn’t yet found a level of consistency on the PGA Tour Vilips is clearly a prodigious talent who is here to stay and having bagged his two wins on US soil with totals of 26- under and 25- under this low scoring test where plenty of birdies will be needed should hold no fear.

NICK DUNLAP – 175/1 – 1pt e/w 1/5 odds 1^st 10 - FINISHED MC

Finally to wrap up this week I will take a flyer on Nick Dunlap.

After breaking through on the PGA Tour as an amateur last year at the American Express before going on to win again at the Barracuda later in the year, Dunlap has struggled hugely this year and currently sits 140^th in the Fedex standings and without a top ten since Hawaii in January. Fortunately though with the wins under his belt from last year Nick doesn’t have any concerns about his card though.

The fact that Dunlap’s two wins last year though came in the desert/at altitude is enough to make him very much of interest this week.

A look at Nick’s stats for the year show us clearly where the issues have been as he ranks 170^th in Driving Accuracy and a 171^st off the tee, basically there have been times where he hasn’t looked like he has known where the ball was going off the tee.

In July though he popped up with a strong finish at the John Deere to finish 11^th, while last time out his stats at the Sanderson’s were much improved as he ranked 31^st off the tee and 27^th for the week in accuracy.

Allowing for Nick’s form through 2025 we are clearly taking a risk here however he showed last year that he is more than capable of competing at the highest level and with some room off the tee here I am happy to chance him at the odds.