PGA Tour back in Utah for the first time in six decades and European tour goes to site of Olympics
By The Associated Press
Posted 10/8/24
The PGA Tour returns to Utah for the first time since 1963 with the Black Desert Championship. Among the players with Utah connections in the field is 65-year-old Jay Don Blake. He will be making his …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Last week: Kevin Yu won the Sanderson Farms Championship.
Notes: The PGA Tour returns to Utah for the first time since the Utah Open was part of the schedule in 1963. ... Utah native Jay Don Blake has been given a sponsor exemption. Blake was born nearby in St. George, Utah. He won at Torrey Pines in 1991. This will be his 500th career start on the PGA Tour, and first since 2018 ... Utah native Zac Blair also is in the field. Utah native Tony Finau is not playing because his son is in a national junior tournament. ... The winner gets a spot in the Masters and PGA Championship. ... Peter Kuest, a Utah Open winner, went to BYU and still lives in Utah. ... The field features two players from the top 50 in the world ranking, Chris Kirk and Lucas Glover. ... International captain Mike Weir is playing for the first time since the Presidents Cup. He played college golf at BYU. ... Sanderson Farms Championship winner Kevin Yu is the 12th first-time winner on the PGA Tour this season.
Last week: Tyrrell Hatton won the Dunhill Links Championship.
Notes: Billy Horschel is playing for the third time in four weeks on the European tour, starting with his victory in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. Horschel is the only player from the top 10 at the French Open. ... Victor Perez and Matthieu Pavon are among nine players in the field who competed at Le Golf National in the Olympics. ... Perez missed a chance at the bronze medal by one shot. ... Le Golf National has hosted the Ryder Cup and the Olympics over the last six years. ... Justin Rose is in the field. This is only his third regular European tour event this year. ... Dunhill Links runner-up Nicolas Colsaerts received a sponsor invitation. The French Open in 2019 was his last victory. ... Nicolai Hojgaard shot a 62 in the third round at the Olympics. He finished sixth. ... From 1980 through 1986, the only French Open winners were Nick Faldo, Seven Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Greg Norman and Sandy Lyle.
Television: Wednesday-Saturday, 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. (Golf Channel).
Previous winner: Angel Yin.
Race to CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda.
Last tournament: Jasmine Suwannapura won the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
Notes: The LPGA begins the fall version of its Asia Swing, four tournaments in China, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan .... The tournament dates to 2018 but went three years without being played because of the COVID-19 pandemic before returning to the schedule last year. ... Danielle Kang received a sponsor exemption. She won the first two editions of the Buick LPGA Shanghai. ... Hannah Green, Ruoning Yin and Jeeno Thitikul give the field three players from the top 10 in the women's world ranking. ... Rose Zhang is playing. She is No. 11 in the world. ... Zhang is one of only 12 Americans in the field. ... Angel Yin moved to a career-high No. 25 in the women's world ranking when she won in Shanghai last year. Yin reached as high as No. 19 this year and now is No. 33. ... Lauren Coughlin, Bailey Tardy and Linnea Strom are the only first-time winners on the LPGA Tour this year.
Last week: Rocco Mediate won the Constellation Furyk & Friends.
Notes: This is the last tournament before the Charles Schwab Cup playoffs begin. ... The top 72 players in the Schwab Cup qualify for the postseason. The field will be trimmed to 54 players for the second event, and the top 36 reach the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship. ... Woody Austin is at No. 73 in the Schwab Cup by about $5,000. ... Steve Stricker and K.J. Choi are the only players from the top 10 in the Schwab Cup not playing. Stricker is unlikely to play the rest of the season. ... Bernhard Langer is in the field. He needs to win over the next three weeks to extend his streak of 17 consecutive years with a PGA Tour Champions victory. ... Schwab Cup leader Ernie Els is playing. His lead over Steven Alker is just under $200,000. ... Thomas Bjorn and North Carolina native Neal Lancaster received the two sponsor exemptions. Bjorn is at 27th in the Schwab Cup.
