Out of the Rough: Bank of Utah Championship (2026)

As the dust settles on last week’s Presidents Cup, the PGA Tour is back in action for this week’s Bank of Utah Championship.

This is the third consecutive season that the PGA Tour will head to Utah and just the third time since 1963 that the PGA Tour has returned to the state.

The FedExCup Fall continues on with the second-of-eight stops along the fall circuit as golfers fight for their chance to secure PGA Tour status for the 2027 season.

This week’s host venue will be the Tom Weiskopf designed Black Desert Resort which was the final design of his storied career prior to his passing.

Golfers and viewers alike will be greeted by the jaw-dropping backdrop this venue offers with the view of the nearby red rock mountains as the course itself is laid amidst a former lava field.

This venue also hosted an LPGA event last year, making it one of only a few courses in America to stage events across both the premier men’s and women’s tours.

The Field

Defending champion Michael Brennan, the unheard of PGA Tour Americas player, comes in as the highest ranked golfer within the Official World Golf Rankings to be playing this week. He ranks 32nd.

Maverick McNealy (48th) is the only other golfer ranked within the OWGR to be teeing it up this week in Utah.

Other notable names teeing it up this week include Marco Penge, Matt Wallace, Jackson Koivun, Johnny Keefer, Harry Hall, Pierceson Coody, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Jordan Smith, Rasmus Hojgaard and Max Homa.

Matt McCarty won the inaugural playing of this event in 2024. That event was just the third PGA Tour start in McCarty’s career.

The Course

Black Desert Resort Golf Course in Ivins, Utah is essentially a brand new venue, opening its front nine in 2022 and its back nine in 2023.

As previously mentioned, it was the final design of storied golf course designer Weiskopf who was also the mastermind behind dozens of golf courses across the world, including regular PGA Tour venues Quail Hollow, TPC Craig Ranch and TPC Scottsdale - among others.

The course plays as a par 71 at 7,371 and sits 3,000 feet above sea level. This will see the field receiving approximately a four-percent distance bump, making this course play approximately 7,100 yards.

The course is laid amidst a former lava field and although the course itself offers very few traditional lines of defense, this course will penalize the big misses off-the-tee.

The rough this week is set at just 2-inches with very little featured. Water is also in play on just two holes. The fairway bunkers featured this week are essentially non-penal as well.

Although the fairways and corridors are set at slightly below PGA Tour average, off-the-tee, golfers will, for the most part, take driver out of the bag on nearly every par-four and par-five. Golfers will not be penalized for missed fairways this week, outside of the big misses, which is not seen often by the professionals.

Essentially, the golfers who can find that balance of being both long-and-straight off the tee will see the biggest advantage this week.

Around-the-green, there isn’t much to write home about as well as this course is set to play on the easier side compared to PGA Tour standards.

The greens this week average 7,000 square feet and are laid in Bentgrass. They are receptive and soft, seeing them run true. Compared to many other birdie-fests, in which this event will almost certainly be, I don’t see it turning into a putting-content due to this.

The par-threes this week are rather short. One of this venue’s signature holes, the par-three 17th, is Weiskopf’s rendition of Royal Troon’s ‘Postage Stamp’ hole. Weiskopf won The Open Championship at Royal Troon in 1973.

Attacking the par-fives will be crucial this week for any eventual winner. The par-fours play short as well, as at least two will be reachable off-the-tee.

Black Desert Resort Golf Club is just that, a resort golf course. It’s laid out to aid the amateur golfer. However, this course visually looks more intimidating to those outside of the professional golf sector. 

In all, we can expect an easier golf course on the PGA Tour with what will almost certainly come down to a birdie-fest.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, there is essentially a zero-percent chance of precipitation across all four days this week. Temperatures will begin with a high of 89-degrees on Thursday before peaking at 90-degrees for both Friday and Saturday. Temperatures will return to 89-degrees on Sunday. Winds will be the lowest on Thursday at just eight miles-per-hour. From there, winds will pick up to 11 miles-per-hour on Friday. Winds will dip to ten miles-per-hour on Saturday before returning to 11 miles-per-hour on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Off the Tee (SG: OTT)

• Total Driving (75-percent Average Driving Distance / 25% Driving Accuracy Percentage)

• Birdie or Better Percentage

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

•  Proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards

• Strokes Gained: Putting on Bentgrass (SG: PUTT Bentgrass)

• Par 5 Average Scoring

• Bogey Avoidance

• Scrambling

• Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (SG: TTG)

Betting Card

Michael Brennan (+1800)

Is Brenan the best golfer in this field this week? That’s up for debate but he is the defending champion of this event and two-time PGA Tour winner already. Brennan was an unknown PGA Tour Americas graduate last season. He left Utah as a known PGA Tour winner. He recently won the Wyndham Championship to record his second PGA Tour victory. He most recently played the BMW Championship where he placed tenth. Prior to that he was 42nd at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and prior to his victory at the Wyndham Championship, he placed 15th at the Rocket Classic. He’s the complete golfer, especially for a FedEx Cup Fall event. Brennan is currently third on Tour in both SG: OTT and proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards, fourth in total driving, 18th in birdie-or-better percentage, 31st in par-five average scoring, 48th in SG: TTG, 49th in SG: PUTT Bentgrass, 50th in SG: APP, 121st in bogey avoidance and 142nd in scrambling. He has the distance, irons and putter. Brennan is being priced the same as Maverick McNealy and Ben James with Jackson Koivun rightfully leading the odds boards. I’m on the Brennan train to repeat this week. 

Jackson Suber (+3800)

Suber is going to be awfully popular amongst betting cards this week and that’s for good reason. I’ve been on Suber a bunch this season and simply could not leave him off my card this week. He is currently first on Tour in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards, 13th in birdie-or-better percentage, 15th in SG: APP, 20th in par-five average scoring, 21st in SG: TTG, 40th in bogey avoidance, 56th in scrambling, 68th in SG: OTT, 80th in total driving and 119th in SG: PUTT Bentgrass. He placed 15th at the Biltmore Championship Asheville to kick-off the FedEx Cup Fall series. Prior to that he placed 22nd at the Wyndham Championship and 50th at the Rocket Classic. If we look a little further back he has finishes such as sixth at the John Deere Classic, fourth at the RBC Canadian Open and fourth at THE CJ CUP Bryon Nelson. He knows how to compete and he’s shown that for months now. Suber also placed 15th at this event a season ago.

Davis Thompson (+4000)

Will I even stop betting Davis Thompson? The answer is no as he’s found his way back on my betting card this week. He missed the cut at the Biltmore Championship Asheville but prior to that was in some pretty great form. He placed 14th at the Wyndham Championship, eighth at the Rocket Classic and seventh at the 3M Open. Thompson is currently sixth on Tour in SG: APP, 15th in bogey avoidance, 18th in SG: TTG, 41st in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards, 45th in SG: OTT, 51st in total driving, 53rd in SG: PUTT Bentgrass, 54th in scrambling, 85th in par-five average scoring and 92nd in birdie-or-better percentage. In other words, there is no glaring hole to his game. He did miss the cut here in Utah a season ago however. 

Johnny Keefer (+4500)

This was my first click this week. He will be making his Bank of Utah Championship debut this week but the stats tell me he’s primed for a good week. Keefer is currently ninth on Tour in total driving, tenth in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards, 15th in SG: OTT, 28th in SG: APP, 33rd in SG: TTG, 59th in birdie-or-better percentage, 92nd in par-five average scoring, 105th in bogey avoidance, 110th in SG: PUTT Bentgrass and 136th in scrambling. Last time out, Keffer had one of his best putting performances of his young career, gaining 1.599 strokes-per-round on the Bentgrass greens at The Cliffs at Walnut Cove for the Biltmore Championship Asheville. If he can keep that putter going this week, he’ll have a great chance to claim his maiden PGA Tour title. Keefer placed seventh at the Biltmore Championship Asheville to kick-off the fall and ended a stretch of poor results prior. He was third at the Genesis Scottish Open in an elite field not that long ago however. 

Haotong Li (+8000)

What Haotong Li has been doing as of late can’t be ignored. He placed tenth at the Biltmore Championship Asheville in his latest outing on the PGA Tour but he’s also been putting together great results on the DP World Tour as of late as well. Prior to the Biltmore Championship Asheville he placed T14th at the Amgen Irish Open, T18th at the Omega European Masters and T37th at the Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo on the DP World Tour. I talk about this often but when golfers have the ability to jump from tour-to-tour and continent-to-continent and put together great results, that isn’t easy to do. Li is currently 22nd on the PGA Tour in SG: OTT, 35th in proximity to the hole from 175-plus yards, 43rd in total driving, 55th in birdie-or-better percentage, 64th in SG: APP, 79th in par-five average scoring, 82nd in SG: PUTT Bentgrass, 89th in SG: TTG, 116th in bogey avoidance and 141st in scrambling. He too will be making his Bank of Utah Championship debut this week.

2025 Betting Card

• Thorbjorn Olesen (+3500) - T3rd

• Emiliano Grillo (+3500) - W/D

• Lee Hodges (+6500) - MC

• Kevin Roy (+7500) - 60th

• Isaiah Salinda (+12500) - T42nd

2024 Betting Card

• Seamus Power (+3000) - T11th

• Mac Meissner (+5500) - T25th

• Daniel Berger (+6000) - T35th

• Hayden Springer (+8000) - MC

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