The Punter's In-Play Blog: Leaders look too tough to oppose in Utah

• Long-shot claims the spoils at Woo Jeong Hills 

• Leader fairly priced in Utah

• Defending champion just two off the lead

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10:00 - October 26, 2025

Junghwan Lee, who was matched at 1000.0999/1 when the market first opened, has posted a brilliant seven-under-par 64 in round four at Woo Jeong Hills to win the Genesis Championship in Korea.

Sitting in a tie for 12^th, the 34-year-old Korean was still trading at a triple figure price with 18 to play, so it was an unexpected result, and I'm quite pleased I didn't get too involved in the tournament.

Over on the PGA Tour, yesterday's in-play picks at the Bank of Utah Championship, the 36-hole leader, Michael Brennan, and the defending champ, Matt McCarty, both posted seven-under-par 64s in round three and with a round to go, the two sit first and second. Here's the 54-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 9:50.

Michael Brennan -17 2.588/5
Matt McCarty -15 5.39/2
Rico Hoey -14 8.88/1
Kevin Yu -14 9.89/1
Pierceson Coody -14 12.011/1
Thorbjorn Olesen -13 20.019/1
Hayden Springer -13 36.035/1
-12 and 90.089/1 bar

Given this is only the second edition of the Bank of Utah Championship, we have very little to go on but it's hard to look past the leaders.

Low scoring affairs like this tend to suit the frontrunners whenever the weather is kind.

Around a course as forgiving as the Black Desert, which averaged almost three strokes under its par of 71 in round three (68.09), low scores are the norm so it's highly likely that one or two of the frontrunners will post a score that's too hard to beat.

At last year's inaugural staging, the first and second, McCarty and Stephan Jaegar, had sat first and second after 54 holes and having led by two with 18 to play, McCarty went on to win by three after a 67 on Sunday. Jaeger shot 68 in round four.

If the front two shoot 68 or better today, they'll prove hard to pass but we can't ignore the fact that a couple of players made big moves from off the pace 12 months ago.

Lucas Glover and Matti Schmid's nine-under-par 62s on Sunday saw them end the week in tied third and fifth place and they'd sat tied 28^th and tied 36^th with a round to go.

They were still beaten by four and five strokes respectively, having trailed by nine and 10 after 54 holes but they were helped by the weather.

The wind picked up in the afternoon on Sunday last year which made it tougher for the leaders so it's worth keeping an eye on the weather today, as well as monitoring the early scoring.

At this stage, it looks like the wind will pick up fractionally today, but it's not predicted to blow any harder than 10 knots (gusting at a high of 18) and if that's how it pans out, it doesn't look enough to hinder the late starters.

Having backed the front two yesterday, I'm going to sit on my hands now and see how the day goes but even though he's bound to feel the heat today with so much on the line, the leader is very fairly priced at bigger than 6/42.50.

Michael Brennan, 23, has the chance to bypass an entire LEVEL of professional golf on Sunday.

Here's how

After finishing No. 12 on the 2024 @PGATOURU Ranking to earn @PGATOURAmericas membership, Brennan finished 18th on that circuit's season-long standings as a rookie. He... pic.twitter.com/dh3bEIo9Xx

-- PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 26, 2025

The last player to lead a PGA Tour event by two with 18 to play, Garrick Higgo at the Sanderson Farms Championship at the start of the month, finished second but the four before him (one of which was McCarty in this event) all went on to win and in the last 10 years, two-stroke 54 hole leaders on the PGA Tour have a 43% strike rate.

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11:30 - October 25, 2025

There's just 18 holes to play at the Genesis Championship at Woo Jeong Hills Golf Club in Korea and two men are tied at the top. Here's the 54-hole leaderboard with prices to back at 11:20.

Mikael Lindberg -8 5.04/1
Nacho Elvira -8 7.06/1
Haotong Li -6 11.521/2
Alex Fitzpatrick -6 13.012/1
Andy Sullivan -6 17.533/2
Yuto Katsuragawa -6 18.535/2
Hideki Matsuyama -5 11.521/2
Thomas Detry -5 19.537/2
Kiradech Aphibarnrat -5 48.047/1
Seungbin Choi -5 55.054/1
Garam Jeon -5 80.079/1
Si Woo Kim -4 28.027/1
Angel Ayora -4 36.035/1
Adam Scott -4 36.035/1
Eugenio Chacarra -4 65.064/1
-4 and 80.079/1 bar

As highlighted yesterday, clear 54-hole leaders have a great record at Woo Jeong Hills with nine of the 16 players to hold a clear advantage through three rounds this century going on to win but on the five occasions that two players have been tied at the top in the last 30 years, one of the two tied with 18 to play has gone on to win only twice.

Of the front two this week, Mikael Linberg is the most likely to kick on and take the title according to the market but I'm far from convinced that's correct.

Nacho Elvira is a two-time winner on the DP World Tour and that extra bit of experience could be hugely advantageous although on both occasions, he only just won having held a clear lead with 18 to play.

He was six clear at the Cazoo Open in 2021 before he won in extra time and he clung on to win by one at last year's Soudal Open having led by four after 54 holes.

Lindberg won three of the eight 54 hole Nordic Golf League events in which he led or was tied for the lead with 18 to play and he won the Cape Town Open last year having led by a stroke through three rounds but six months later, he led the Indoor Golf Group Challenge by three on the HotelPlanner Tour through 54 holes before a 74 on Sunday saw him finish third.

This is the first time he's contended really strongly on the DP World Tour, but he's not been great when on the fringes this year.

He finished 24^th at the Turkish Airlines Open in May (beaten by nine) having sat fifth and only four off the lead with 18 to play and having sat fourth at the halfway stage of the Open de France last month, he shot 70-72 over the weekend to slip to 17^th, beaten by ten.

Despite the strong record of the frontrunners at Woo Jeong Hills, the front two here look readily opposable and the one I like is the major winner in the pack, Hideki Matsuyama.

A 73 on Thursday saw the Japanese languishing in a tie for 81^st after round one but rounds of 68 and 67 have seen ease into a tie for seventh and he's more than capable of closing the gap, especially if the two tied at the top tread water.

Matsuyama won the Genesis Invitational form six back last year and he got into a playoff at the FedEx St Jude in 2021 having sat nine off the lead with 18 to play so a deficit of three won't be tough to overcome if he plays as nicely as he has over the last two days.

Over at the Bank of Utah Championship, darkness has again resulted in a suspension of play before the completion of round two.

Yesterday's in-play bet, on Nick Dunlop, proved to be disastrous as he posted a five-over-par 76 and he will be missing the cut but unperturbed, I'm happy to go in again.

Pre-event 90.089/1 chance, Michael Brennan, who's been in great form on the PGA Americas Tour, with three wins since August, is the leader after he eagled the ninth hole (his 18^th) in round two to get to -10 and he looks a very fair price to kick on at odds in excess of 6/17.00.

One month ago, Michael Brennan finished No. 1 on @PGATOURAmericas to secure 2026 @KornFerryTour membership.

Today, he leads @BOUChampionship. pic.twitter.com/89yhvYhZzR

-- PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 24, 2025

At this stage of the tournament, he ranks 11^th for Driving Accuracy, sixth for Driving Distance, eighth for Greens In Regulation and second for Scrambling but only 42^nd for Putting Average so if can find a few more putts to drop, and provided he can keep his nerve on the bigger stage, he looks like he'll hang around and 7.413/2 is fair.

Just two back of the leader in a tie for fifth is the defending champ, Matt McCarty, and I thought he was worth chancing modestly too at a double-figure price.

The 27-year-old was matched at a low of 4/15.00 after he's played his first nine holes of round two in seven-under-par, but he cooled off on the front nine (his back nine), shooting one-over.

He showed last time out, at the Baycurrent Classic in Japan, where he closed with a round of 60, that he can go super-low and if he can hang around today, he could be a big danger in round four.

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09:50 - October 24, 2025

The live coverage of the second round of the Genesis Championship at Woo Jeong Hills Golf Club has ended but with darkness descending it's unclear whether the round will quite get finished today.

At the time of writing there are a couple of groups with two holes to play but it doesn't really matter whether they do all get in the clubhouse or not as it's an event I'm going to continue to swerve anyway.

With eight players tied at the top on six-under-par and with the cut looking to fall at +1, it's an incredibly tough tournament to call and I'm more than happy to remain patient.

As highlighted in the preview, the latest course winner, Min-kyu Kim, who Matt Cooper picked out before the off for the Find Me a 100 Winner column, trailed by six at halfway when he won here for the first time in 2022 and Sang-moon Bae was nine adrift in a tie for 33^rd at halfway in 2009 but winning from off the pace is rare here.

Every other course winner this century has been inside the top eight places after 36 holes and 54 holes leaders have a great record with nine of the 16 players to hold a clear advantage through three rounds going on to win.

With that in mind, given the logjam at the top, I'm going to sit on my hands for now and see where we are with a round to go, although I have made a move on the PGA Tour, where we haven't even finished the first round of the Bank of Utah Championship.

Play was suspended there for darkness yesterday with some players having as many as five holes of their opening rounds to play and with four and a half holes left, Austin Cook, who will return to the course this morning with a 19-foot birdie putt on 14 as his first shot, tied for the lead on -6 with Thorbjorn Olesen, Jesper Svensson, and David Lipsky, who are all in the clubhouse after posing opening 65s.

It's clearly early days there but I was happy to have a small wager on the two-time PGA Tour winner, Nick Dunlop, at 60.059/1.

The 21-year-old won the American Express as an amateur in January last year having reached a remarkable 29-under-par so a low scoring birdie-fest in the desert is right up his alley and he's started nicely this week.

Dunlap, who also won the Barracuda in July last year, posted a five-under-par 66 yesterday and he currently sits tied for fifth.

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