PROVO, Utah - BYU men's golf alumni, Zac Blair, won the Utah Open in a four-hole playoff at Riverside Country Club on Sunday.
The 2009-2013 Cougar carded rounds of 69-67-65–201 to go 15-under par over the three-day tournament. He birdied seven holes in Sunday's contest and parred the rest.
University of Utah's Javier Barcos also ended the tournament at 15-under to force a playoff, but Blair was able to secure the trophy with a par on hole nine.
Blair joins the exclusive club of nine people who have won both the Utah State Amueter and the Utah Open in their golf career, including his father, Jimmy Blair.
The field was full of current and former Cougars, including alumni Carson Lundell, who didn't make the win easy on Blair. Lundell birdied six out of the last nine holes during Sunday's round three to join the four-way tie for third.
Also in a tie for third was alumni Rhett Rasmussen, who played for the Cougars from 2016 to 2020. Rasmussen birdied five holes on the back nine to climb the leaderboard.
BYU's most recent addition to the squad, Simon Kwon, contended for the trophy throughout round three. After seven birdies on Sunday, the rising junior ended 13-under par and in seventh place, carding rounds of 67-69-67–203.
Tyson Shelley, Zac Jones and Keanu Akina finished the tournament in the top 25. Shelley finished in a tie for 18th as he carded rounds of (72-67-69–208; -8). Zac (70-70-69–209; -7) and Akina (71-68-70–209; -7) finished in a tie for 22nd.
Rising freshmen Cooper Jones and Peter Kim made the cut on Saturday to compete in the tournament's final day. Cooper tied for 26th (70-69-71–210; -6), and Kim tied for 32nd (68-69-75–212; -4).
Former Cougars Clay Ogden (68-69-69–206; -10), David Timmins (67-69-70–206; -10), Austen Christiansen (72-69-67–208; -8), Mike Jurca (70-74-71–215; -1), Kelton Hirsch (73-71-72–216; even-par) and Joe Summerhays (71-74-76–221; +5) also played in all three tournament days.
Lila Galeai, a BYU women’s golf team member, played in Friday and Saturday’s rounds but missed the cut by just one stroke (75-71–146; +2). Current Coug Brock Goyen also missed the cut by one stroke after carding rounds of 74 and 72 (+2) in the first two rounds.
Ryan Rhees, Steve Schneiter, Dave DeSantis and Kean Ridd, a part of BYU's first Western Athletic Conference Championship team in 1966, came out to play at Riverside on Friday and Saturday.