Austin Smotherman Matches Career-Low 62 to Lead Bank of Utah Championship

• Austin Smotherman matched his PGA Tour career-low 62 to lead the Bank of Utah Championship.
• Kevin Roy trails by one shot after opening with consecutive rounds of 63.
• Doug Ghim and Kevin Streelman share third place at 15-under.

Austin Smotherman finished with three consecutive birdies on Friday to match his PGA Tour career-low round of 62 and take a one-shot lead at the Bank of Utah Championship with play suspended due to darkness. His 9-under round included 10 birdies as the low scoring continued at Black Desert Resort.

Smotherman reached 17-under 125, setting the tournament’s 36-hole record and improving his own best halfway total by four strokes. Stephan Jaeger held the previous tournament mark of 128, established in 2024.

Eight of Smotherman’s birdies came from inside 10 feet. His longest was a 20-footer at the par-3 17th, the middle hole of his closing burst, while his bogey at the 4th remains his only dropped shot through two rounds.

“It was just very steady — a lot of greens, a lot of fairways, a couple tight wedges,” said Smotherman. “It’s what you’ve got to do to shoot 9 under.”

Smotherman is seeking his first victory in his 100th PGA Tour start. He also led after 36 holes at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches earlier this year, finishing tied for second. His opening 62 there and another at the 2022 Butterfield Bermuda Championship were his previous rounds at that mark.

Roy and Ghim Keep Pace

Kevin Roy’s second successive 63 put him at 16-under 126, five strokes better than his previous best opening 36-hole score. He has yet to make a bogey this week, but even that pace left him chasing Smotherman in perfect conditions.

Doug Ghim also remained bogey-free, matching Smotherman’s 62 to reach 15-under 127 alongside Kevin Streelman. All four players at the top of the leaderboard set personal-best opening 36-hole totals.

Jaeger sits fifth at 14-under, with Steven Fisk a stroke further back. Fisk joins Roy and Ghim as the three players without a bogey through two rounds.

Defending champion Michael Brennan is tied seventh at 12-under, five shots behind, as he tries to become the first player to successfully defend the tournament title. Zach Bauchou, Thursday’s leader, slipped to tied ninth at 11-under after a second-round 69.

Tour Cards in View

The Bank of Utah Championship is the second stop of the FedExCup Fall, with the top-100 in the standings at year’s end retaining full cards for 2027. Players finishing Nos. 51–60 secure places in the $20 million Signature Events at Pebble Beach and Riviera in February.

Smotherman entered the week at No. 79 and Roy at No. 87.

“I think first and foremost keep a job,” he said. “No, really, just keep going out and just trying to play one shot at a time and see where we stack up at the end.”

Roy heads to Japan next week for the Baycurrent Classic, from 8–11 October, before deciding the rest of his schedule.

Streelman is chasing a third Tour victory in his 489th start. He turns 48 next month and said his major medical exemption expired at the previous tournament, leaving him among the last players to get into this week’s field.

“I feel like I have nothing to lose, really,” said Streelman. “This is my almost 20th year doing this and pushing 500 starts, and my family’s coming in this weekend. I just feel I’m going to try and attack and have fun, and if things go well, great. If they don’t, it’s OK, too.”

Koivun Makes the Cut on the Number

Jackson Koivun needed a birdie at the par-5 18th to secure his weekend place, a week after going unbeaten at the Presidents Cup at Medinah.

The 21-year-old’s drive found the left fairway bunker, where his ball sat slightly down in rake grooves. He chose a 5-wood with lava rock threatening left of the green, cleared that danger and stayed short of further trouble before playing a pitch-and-run.

Koivun holed the six-foot birdie putt for a 67 and a 6-under total of 136, making the cut on the number after birdieing three of his final five holes.

Utah native Tony Finau missed out at 4-under. Patrick Fishburn and Kihei Akina, both tied 35th at 8-under, and Zac Blair, tied 56th at 6-under, were the three players with Utah ties to reach the weekend.

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