Hold up, because the 2026 Bank of Utah Championship just got a whole lot more interesting. While Tour vets Austin Smotherman and Doug Ghim are out front, a quartet of absolute newcomers pulled off something wild on Moving Day at Black Desert Resort: Johnny Keefer, David Ford, Ben James, and Kihei Akina, all 25 or younger, *each* went bogey-free on Saturday, and now they’re all sitting pretty inside the top 20. Talk about a statement!
Youth Movement Shakes Up The Desert
This isn’t some quiet rise, folks. Kihei Akina, just 20 years old and the group’s lone amateur, has been repping the U.S. at the Walker Cup, and now he’s making waves here. The BYU sophomore opened with back-to-back 67s and then on Saturday, after four straight pars, he just found another gear. He birdied the par-4 14th, then circled another at the turn, eventually bagging four birdies in five holes on his final nine. The kid said it himself, “The whole day I had really solid feels of my approach play, so I was hitting the irons well and giving myself a lot of looks. 5, 6 and 7,” referring to a stretch of three straight birdies. “I made really good putts there, and that kind of helped me finish well.” You love to hear that confidence!
Then there’s Johnny Keefer, the “old man” of this young crew at 25. This dude is a certified problem for the competition. He dropped an eagle at the par-7th (yeah, you read that right) to launch himself into a tie for sixth heading into Sunday’s final round. This isn’t a fluke either: the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour points list leader just posted his *second* 62 in as many events. His 9 under on Saturday matches his career low, which he set just two weeks ago. “I feel like the game has been trending really nicely,” Keefer told reporters. “First two days I hit the ball off the tee great, and was just kind of waiting for my opportunities. Every now and then the putts would drop, was just kind of real steady, and then today obviously some more putts dropped.” This Baylor grad is six shots back of Smotherman’s lead at 23 under, and he’s ready to “go out and hunt” on Sunday. You can practically hear the roar!
James And Ford Bring The Heat
Ben James, a 23-year-old Tour rookie who debuted at the RBC Canadian Open in June, almost tied Keefer, but then he birdied the par-5 18th, moving him into a tie for third at 18 under with Trace Crowe and Kevin Streelman. This kid’s got game: he’s finished inside the top five three times already, including a runner-up at the Biltmore where he fired a final round 61. After opening 65-66 in Utah, he strung together a blemish-free, 7-under 64 on Saturday. “Did everything I was supposed to do, hit pretty much every fairway and cleaned up around the green well,” the University of Virginia product told Golf Channel’s Amy Rogers. “I made a lot of putts inside of eight feet which I needed to do and I didn’t make any crazy mistakes.” That’s the kind of clean play that wins championships.
David Ford, 24, also came to play, sitting T-9 after posting a 65 on Saturday, his second of the week. He had five birdies, an eagle, and a bogey on Thursday’s opening round to get his first 65. The UNC alum finished top 20 at both the American Express and the Puerto Rico Open earlier this year before taking a five-month break. He’s clearly back in form for the Tour’s fall season kick-off.
Tune in to the final round of the Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah, on Sunday. With these young guns absolutely firing on all cylinders and shaking up the entire leaderboard, can Austin Smotherman and Doug Ghim hold them off? Or will one of these fresh faces break through and grab the title? This is gonna be epic, you don’t want to miss it!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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