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Putting the keyto victory at Black Desert
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Defending champ finding form again
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Read my Genesis Championship preview here
Tournament History
The PGA Tour's Fall Series stops off in Utah this week for the second edition of the Bank of Utah Championship which was last year called the Black Desert Championship.
The Bank of Utah Championship is staged at the spectacular Tom Weiskopf-designed Black Desert Golf Course.
Venue
Black Desert Golf Course, Ivins, Utah.
Course Details
Par 71, 7,371 yards
Stroke Average in 2024 - 69.06
Having opened as recently as 2023, the Black Desert Golf Course was the last track designed by the late Tom Weiskopf, who was assisted by Phil Smith.
Black Desert is a long desert track with generous bentgrass fairways and large bentgrass greens but as it sits at altitude, the ball flies further, and the course doesn't play quite as long as its yardage suggests.
With the striking red rock cliffs of Greater Zion as a backdrop, the course is characterized by the presence of ancient basalt rock formations integrated into the landscape, creating a visually stunning contrast against the lush fairways.
As it's a resort course, Weiskopf and Smith, designed the track with playability in mind, so with most fairways between 70 and 100 yards wide the pros won't be under any sort of stress off the tee.
It's a traditional par 72 layout with four par fives and four par threes but as is often the case with a Weiskopf design, the course also features two drivable par 4s - the 5th and 14th holes and it was at the 14th that Matt McCarty put the inaugural edition to bed last year with an eagle two.
Water is in play on just two holes and it's not a tough test. Adam Svensson shot an 11-under-par 60 on day one last year and the winner, McCarty, reached 23-under-par.
Weather Forecast
TV Coverage
Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at 22:00 in the UK on Thursday.
Inaugural Winner with Pre-event Exchange Price
2024 - Matt McCarty -23 55.054/1
How did the inaugural edition pan out?
The pre-event 55.054/1 chance, Matt McCarty, who was playing in just his third PGA Tour event, having missed the cut at the 2022 US Open and having finished 63rd at the Sanderson Farms Championship the week before, trailed by two after he'd shot 62 in round one!
He was still two back at halfway but after a 64 on Saturday, he led by two with a round to go.
Trading at around 2.77/4, he didn't look generously priced given four men were tied for second, but it didn't take him long to settle his nerves.
McCarty had been promoted to the PGA Tour after three wins in six weeks on the Korn Ferry Tour over the summer of 2024 and he went odds-on to get off the mark on the PGA Tour after a birdie at the first hole on Sunday. And as already highlighted, victory was assured when he eagled the par four 14th.
As expected, with the fairways so wide and the greens generously sized, the field had little problem in finding fairways and greens last year (see Justin Ray's tweet below after the second round).
It was thought before the off that length off the tee would be a big advantage but that wasn't really the case, as we saw a number of veterans contend.
It was also theorised that the tournament would develop into something of a birdie-fest and a putting competition and that did materialise.
With a round to go, the top eight in the Putting Average stats for the week were all inside the top-ten and the winner finished the week ranking seventh for Strokes Gained: Putting, with the top-seven on the final leaderboard ranking seventh, 18th, first, 60th, fifth, 11th and ninth.
Lucas Glover putted well on the front nine on Sunday, but he was the one to rank as lowly as 60th and it was his elite tee-to-green game that kept him in the hunt. He ranked first for Greens In Regulation and Strokes Gained: Approach to Green.
The winner ranked second for Putting Average, Streelman in tied third ranked fourth, and Joe Highsmith, who finished toed for sixth, topped the PA stats for the week.
Low scoring events very often make it tough on the chasers, with everyone holing putts, and McCarty was inside the top five places all week, but we can't ignore Lucas Glover and Matti Schmid's nine-under-par 62s on Sunday which saw them end the week in tied third and fifth.
Keep an eye on the weather
It had been a largely benign week last year, but the wind picked up on Sunday afternoon and that gave the early wave a squeak.
Having started the day seven strokes behind McCarty in a tie for 28th, Glover was matched at a low of 13.525/2 as he sat in the clubhouse and Schmid had begun the final day eight off the lead in a tie for 36th.
In light of last year's edition, we need to keep an eye on the weather forecasts as it can differ greatly throughout the day, and Glover and Schmid demonstrated perfectly that a move from off the pace can be made here before the wind picks up.
It's also worth considering the forecast over the first two days as there was differential of more than two strokes between the two sides of the draw last year with the AM-PM wave averaging 2.21 less than the PM-AM side of the draw.
Correlating Courses to consider
Scottsdale resident, McCarty, missed the cut in the Phoenix Open this year but he was woefully out of form at the time and form there may well be worth considering given it's staged at another Weiskopf designed desert track - TPC Scottsdale.
The American Express is another event staged in the desert where low scoring is essential so that's another event that should correlate nicely over time.
Scottsdale is a slightly tougher track than this one but the last two winners have got to double-digits under-par and the last ten winners of the American Express have reached between -20 and -29.
Another Weiskopf track, TPC Craig Ranch, has hosted the last five editions of the Byron Nelson on the PGA Tour, and that too should provide clues.
With generous fairways and bentgrass greens, the Texan track certainly has similarities to this course, and low scores have been the norm there ever since the tournament moved there after the pandemic.
KH Lees won the first two editions at TPC Craig Ranch in 25 and 26 under-par, Jason Day was victorious three years ago in 23-under-par, Canada's Taylor Pendrith also reached 23-under in 2024 and Scottie Scheffler amassed a 31-under-par total there this year.
Likely Candidates
I'm away for a few days so I won't be updating again with any selections before the off, but Matt Cooper will be back with the Find Me a 100 Winner column in a day or so and I'll return with the In-Play Blog at the weekend.
Local resident, Patrick Fishburn, missed the cut last year but he could be an interesting candidate this week.
He hits a long way off the tee but he's not especially straight so this wide layout should suit him better than most.
After a sixth placed finish in the Sanderson Farms Championship and a 10th at the Baycurrent Classic last time out, Christiaan Bezuidenhout arrives in Utah in form, and he might one to side with before the off.
He finished runner-up in the American Express last year with a 28-under-par total so he may well take to the venue on debut.
McCarty certainly caught the eye last time out when he signed off the Baycurrent Classic with an 11-under-par 60 around Yokohama Country Club. And that was with a bogey at his final hole!
Defending titles is never easy but McCarty may just be coming in to form at just the right time.