Michael Brennan, who led the field when play was suspended Friday evening due to darkness, maintained his edge on Saturday, shooting a 7-under-par 64 to open up a two-stroke lead on the field at the Bank of Utah Championship in Ivins, Utah.
“I have a great opportunity tomorrow, so try to take advantage of it, stay focused, but also play golf at River Creek,” Brennan said.
Brennan, in his first PGA Tour start as a professional (third overall), endured a double-bogey on Hole 2 before settling into the kind of golf that had initially given him the lead.
“Yeah, I was a little nervous,” Brennan acknowledged. “Definitely. I don’t think it was anything crazy. Nothing that I hadn’t experienced playing professional golf on the Americas Tour. I felt like those experiences were pretty similar, which I’m very happy about. I’ve had some experience, and I hope to draw on that tomorrow.”
A birdie on the fourth and an eagle on the seventh kickstarted his day, which saw him record five birdies over a six-hole stretch (Holes 9-14) to retake control.
He finished his day with another birdie on Hole 18.
“I’m obviously very happy with how I finished this round,” he said.
Brennan’s closest competitor is fellow American Matt McCarty, who shot a matching 7-under 64 a year after winning this event. His day featured eight birdies juxtaposed against two bogeys.
“Happy to be in that position and awesome for me that it’s at the same course as last year, too,” McCarty said.
Tied for third at 14 under are the Philippines’ Rico Hoey (63), Thailand’s Kevin Yu (63) and Pierceson Coody (66).
Yu was flawless, recording birdies on Holes 1, 3, 6, 7, 13 and 18 and an eagle on 14.
“Didn’t make any mistakes out there. Just really solid off the tee, through the tee, from the tee to the putting,” Yu said. “Just focus on what I have to do tomorrow, just one shot at a time.”
A pair of golfers are tied for sixth at 13 under: Hayden Springer (field-best 62) and Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen (65).
Closing out the top 10 are three players tied for eighth at 12 under: Canada’s Ben Silverman (67), Justin Lower (68) and David Ford (69).
