Austin Smotherman survived a back-nine double bogey, birdied three of the last five holes and won his maiden PGA Tour title at the Bank of Utah Championship on Sunday in Ivins, Utah.
Smotherman entered with a one-stroke lead over Doug Ghim and shot a 3-under-par 68 to go 26-under 258 for the week, a new scoring record at the three-year-old tournament. He defeated Ghim by two shots after the latter posted a final-round 69 at Black Desert Resort.
Smotherman, 32, earned a two-year PGA Tour exemption and entry into the Masters, the PGA Championship and The Players Championship. He’s also projected to rise to No. 51 in the FedEx Cup Fall points standings. Players who finish Nos. 51-60 in the fall standings receive invitations to the first two signature events of 2027.
Playing from an awkward lie, Smotherman failed to escape a bunker on his third shot at the par-4 13th hole, and his fourth shot left him 10 feet for bogey, which he could not convert. His three-shot lead shrank to one when he finished the hole.
But he bounced back to birdie the short par-4 14th, and after going birdie-bogey at Nos. 16 and 17, he and Ghim arrived at the par-5 finishing hole with Smotherman ahead by two.
Ghim had an eagle look in the form of a 31-foot chip that could tie Smotherman for the lead. But Smotherman went first and lagged a 70-foot eagle putt to less than 2 feet from the hole to set up an easy tap-in, and Ghim’s chip narrowly missed the cup.
David Ford (64) and Trace Crowe (66) tied for third at 23 under. Kevin Streelman (67) and Ben James (67) tied for fifth at 22 under.
