Overnight leader Michael Brennan of the United States fired an eagle at the par-5 7th as well as seven birdies and a double bogey at the par-4 2nd to close with a 7-under 64 and retain the Bank of Utah Championship lead at 17-under.

He leads the field this week in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (5.912) and Driving Distance (359.2).

“I’m obviously very happy with how I finished this round. I played very solid coming in. I felt like I maybe was a little frustrated on the third hole still and it’s something I hope to improve upon, trying not to carry it with me. I made a nice birdie on 4 and kept things going.

“Made a good save on 2; nice birdie on 4. That was really kind of I felt like what got me over the hump and got me going in the right direction to get to 1-under for the round.

“After the double on 2 I told myself, let’s get back to even for the nine. Back nine I feel like I can get a little bit, hit a lot of drivers out there.

“So to be able to get to 1-under with a par-5 coming in was a really good feeling.”

Brennan played on the PGA Tour twice before as an amateur at the 2022 Genesis Invitational (MC) and 2023 US Open (MC).

He has won three times on PGA Tour Americas in 2025 and finished No. 1 in the 2025 Fortinet Cup standings to earn fully exempt status on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2026. He is also exempt into Final Stage of PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry in December.

He posted twelve top-10s in sixteen starts on PGA Tour Americas in 2025, with his three victories coming in a span of four starts in August and September.

With a win, Brennan would become the 14th first-time winner this season and the first sponsor exemption to win on Tour since Nick Dunlap at the 2024 American Express.

Defending champion Matt McCarty carded a sub-30 score on the back nine at Black Desert Resort for the second consecutive round (R2/28, R3/29). He made nine birdies and two bogeys overall for a 64 and moved into second place at 15-under. The American seeks to become the first player to successfully defend a title on Tour since Scottie Scheffler (2024, 2025 Memorial Tournament). With a win, he would become the first player to earn his first two Tour victories at the same event in back-to-back years since K.H. Lee (2021, 2022 CJ CUP Byron Nelson).

Second-year member Rico Hoey from the Philippines eagled the par-5 7th and made nine birdies, one bogey and a double bogey at the par-4 6th to close with a 63 and a share of third place at 14-under. He leads the field in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (10.848) and Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (7.383). Hoey has had four top-10 finishes in 27 starts this season, highlighted by a T4 in his most recent start at the Baycurrent Classic.

Taiwan’s Kevin Yu eagled the par-4 14th and carded a bogey-free 63 for a share of third place. He sits inside the top five entering the final round for the third time this season (T3/RBC Canadian Open/finished 3rd; T5/Valspar Championship/T12). Yu seeks to finish inside the top 60 to secure starts in next season’s Genesis Invitational and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am via Aon Next 10.

American Pierceson Coody made a bogey at the first and closed with a 66 for his share of third place. He seeks his first PGA Tour title in his 50th start. He is playing with conditional status on Tour in 2025 but finished No. 12 in the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour points list to regain his Tour card in 2026. His lone top-10 finish this season was T3 at the 3M Open.

FedExCup Fall Notes

The 2025 Bank of Utah Championship is the fourth event of the FedExCup Fall, a group of seven tournaments played after the Tour Championship that finalizes eligibility for the 2026 PGA Tour Season.

Winners of events during the FedExCup Fall receive the similar benefits of winners of Full-Field Events during the Regular Season, including 500 FedExCup points, Official World Golf Ranking points, a two-year PGA Tour exemption (exempt thru 2026) and invitations to The Sentry, the Players Championship and PGA Championship.

The Aon Next 10 is an eligibility pathway that awards access into Signature Events (outside of The Sentry), recognizing the top 10 players, not otherwise exempt, from the FedExCup standings; Nos. 51-60 in the final FedExCup Fall standings at the conclusion of The RSM Classic will serve as the Aon Next 10 for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.

Related: The “Finicky Golfer” – Baltusrol’s Upper Hand

A.W. Tillinghast design resurrected by Gil Hanse.