Perhaps never before has the Utah Open had such a Utah-centric leaderboard as it does after two rounds of the annual golf tournament, celebrating its 100th year this year at Riverside Country Club.
The top 11 golfers after 36 holes of the 54-hole tournament, sponsored by Larry H. Miller Company, are all Utah born-and-bred and each of the golfers is in his 20s with most having experience playing at one of the state’s colleges.
Blake Tomlinson, a 27-year-old former University of Utah golfer, who won 2022 Utah Open, fired a 10-under-par 62 Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into Sunday’s final round with a 16-under 128 total.
Two former BYU golfers, Carson Lundell and Simon Kwon, are tied at 130 with former Utah Tech golfer Jackson Rhees, while two more ex-Cougars, Rhett Rasmussen and Tyson Shelley, are tied for fifth, another stroke back at 131. Tied for seventh are ex-Ute Braxton Watts, former BYU golfer Keanu Akina and current BYU golfer Jackson Mauss, while another amateur, Parker Bunn, who plays for the Cougars, and Salt Lake’s John Fox are tied for 10th at 133.
Tomlinson started off with two birdies and added three more to make the turn at 31. Then, on the back nine, he made five more birdies for another 31, just missing the Utah Open record of 61.
“After I birdied the first two I had a good feeling,” said Tomlinson, whose girlfriend, Kate, is his caddy this week. “I want to keep the process the same. Stay aggressive and trust my short game. I want a second (Utah Open win).
The 28-year-old Lundell might be overdue for a win at the Utah Open after contending every year since turning pro three years ago. He tied for third in 2023, was T-7 in ‘24 and tied for sixth last year. He’s one of the hottest golfers, coming off a win at the Colorado Open last month when he pocketed $50,000.
He was frustrated by his game Saturday and felt he played better than the day before when he shot four strokes better.
“I just didn’t make any putts,” he said. “I had probably six putts that I thought were absolutely hearted that barely slipped by.”
The top non-Utahn is Colorado’s Derek Fribbs, who has two Utah Open wins to his credit, 2021 and 2014, and was 15th a year ago. Fribbs is tied for 12th at 134 with 2006 Utah Open champ Pete Stone.
Former University of Utah golfer Brandon Robison, who just turned pro this week, shot 64 Saturday and is one of six golfers at 135.
Sixteen-year-old Blake Brown of Alpine, who won the Boys 15-18 title at the U.S. Kids Golf World Teen Championship at Pinehurst, N.C. last month, is among seven golfers at 136.
Utah open leaderboard
128 – Blake Tomlinson (66-62)
130 – Carson Lundell (63-67), Simon Kwon (64-66), Jackson Rhees (63-67)
131 – Tyson Shelley (63-68), Rhett Rasmussen (66-65)
132 – Braxton Watts (63-69), Keanu Akina (70-62), a-Jackson Mauss (66-66)
133 – John Fox (68-65), a-Parker Bunn (67-66)
134 – Pete Stone (66-68), Derek Fribbs (68-66)
135 – Brandon Robison (71-64), Cole Ponich (68-67), Brady McKinlay (67-68), Joe Summerhays (67-68), Vishai Giri (68-67), a-Jace Benson (68-67)
136 – a-Peter Kim (70-66), Todd Tanner (66-70), Zach Felts (69-67), Jordan Gibbs (66-70), a-Blake Brown (67-69), a-David Liechty (68-68), a-Angus Klintworth (65-71)
137 – Clay Ogden (72-65), Matt Snyder (69-68), Kyle Suppa (67-70), a-Nikko Taggart (67-70), Mitchell Schow (67-70), Justin Keiley (69-68)
138 – a-Cole Ogden (69-69), a-Will Pederson (70-68), Thomas Cook (69-69), Zac Jones (69-69), Josh Anderson (69-69),Kirby Coe-Kirkham (68-70)
139 – Zach Johnson (70-69), Spencer Wallace (70-69), Tommy Sharp (68-71), Casey Fowles (67-72), Hayden Banz (69-70)
140 – Kelton Hirsch (72-68), Braydon Swapp (70-70), a-Zach Dallimore (71-69), a-Brock Porter (71-69), a-Calvin Lillywhite (69-71)
141 – a-Kaha’i Helm (72-69), a-Kenny Palmer (71-70), Tele Wightman (69-72), a-Luke Schone (69-72), a-Peyton Hastings (67-74), Landon Anderson (69-72), Camron Saunders ((68-73), Chris Curran (69-72)
142 – a-David Timmins (73-69), Chris Moody (72-70), Steve Schneiter (69-73), a-Austin Shelley (71-71), a-Austin Shelley (71-71), Ryan Rhees (72-70), Cannon Robison (73-69), a-Cameron Crawford (72-70)
143 – a-David Jennings (73-70), Evan Wartgow (74-69), Dustin Volk (70-73), Roman Aragon (72-71), a-Ethan Luna (73-70), a-Braylon Bingham (74-69)
