Third-round leader Austin Smotherman goes into the final round of the Bank of Utah Championship with the same goal as the golfer one stroke behind him — to win for the first time on the PGA Tour.
Smotherman shot a 6-under-par 65 for 23-under 190 after three rounds, with Doug Ghim at 22 under after his 64 on Saturday at Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah.
Ghim, in his 192nd start on tour, will be paired on Sunday with Smotherman, in his 100th career start.
“I think it’s good pressure,” said Smotherman, 32. “That’s what we work for. That’s the spot you want to be. Coming down, you kind of hold all the cards. Yeah, I’m sure there’s going to be some energy.”
After his 62 on Friday gave him a one-shot lead through 36 holes, Smotherman dropped a shot on Saturday with a bogey at the par-3 third hole, then responded with birdies at the par-4 No. 5 and the par-5 Nos. 7 and 9 to make the turn at 2 under for the day.
He countered a bogey at No. 10 with birdies at Nos. 11, 13, 14, 17 and 18 — the last a 12-footer — for 31 on the back nine.
Smotherman has two top-10 finishes this year and is No. 79 in the FexExCup Fall series standings. He said having contenders match his total score during the round didn’t ruffle him.
“I think, if anything, it kind of encourages me to stay in my bubble,” he said, “realizing that there’s some separation at the top where it can kind of feel a bit of a two-horse race or a three-horse race kind of thing, playing some match play scenarios, where this course is just — good boring golf does a lot for you.”
Winning Sunday also would provide access to the first two signature events of 2027. Players who finish the tour’s FedEx Cup Fall series Nos. 51-60 in the standings will qualify, and only the top 100 will keep their cards for next year.
Ghim, 30, also has two top-10 finishes in 2026 and is No. 89 in the Fall series standings.
Ghim was relatively quiet on the front nine, closing birdie-birdie-bogey for a 35, before heating up with a 29 on the back nine. He birdied Nos. 10, 12, 14, 16, 17 and 18.
One of the highlights was a birdie putt of 35 feet, 9 inches at the par-4 No. 12.
“Obviously, I made the comment to my caddie walking up 10, ‘I guess we just made our first bogey for the tournament,’ but I didn’t feel like I necessarily played bad enough to make a bogey,” Ghim said. “That’s just how golf goes sometimes. That bogey really ended up feeling like a birdie. If anything got positive momentum off that, it fed into the back nine.”
Trace Crowe (64 on Saturday), Ben James (64) and Kevin Streelman (68) are tied for third at 18 under.
–Field Level Media
