The First Look: Black Desert Championship
4 Min Read
The PGA TOUR is returning to Utah for the first time since 1963 with plenty of Utahns teeing it up at the inaugural Black Desert Championship.
The Black Desert Resort, which is set in a lava field, will host with plenty on the line in the third of eight FedExCup Fall tournaments.
Here’s everything you need to know as the TOUR tees off in Utah.
FIELD NOTES: Players with Utah ties include Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn, who teamed up to tie for fourth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans… Patton Kizzire, who won the Procore Championship and was T11 at the Sanderson Farms, also looks to maintain momentum… Those in the Aon Next 10 teeing it up in Utah include Seamus Power, Patrick Rodgers, Harris English and Nick Taylor… Reigning PGA TOUR University No. 1 Michael Thorbjornsen, who tied for eighth at the Sanderson Farms, could move inside the top 125 in the FedExCup Fall with a good week at the Black Desert Championship. He’s currently No. 126… Matt McCarty makes his second straight PGA TOUR start after his Three-Victory Promotion on the Korn Ferry Tour. McCarty finished T63 at the Sanderson Farms.
SPONSOR EXEMPTIONS: PGA TOUR veteran Jay Don Blake is set to make his 500th TOUR start. The 65-year-old received the special news in May in a surprise ceremony alongside more than a dozen family members. Greater Zion’s tourism team was filming a documentary about golf in the region and had Blake, from St. George, Utah, pose for photos with the film crew. He was then told of the exemption. Blake last played on the PGA TOUR in 2018. His lone TOUR title came in 1991… Kihei Akina, a BYU commit, is set to make his PGA TOUR debut. He finished T49 as an 18-year-old at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank this summer… Another Utahan making his PGA TOUR debut is BYU senior Zac Jones, who won the 2023 West Coast Conference Championship… Peter Kuest is set to tee it up in his home state in his 25th PGA TOUR start. Kuest played at BYU from 2016-2020 and won 10 individual titles. He notched back-to-back top-10s on the PGA TOUR earlier this year at the Valero Texas Open and the Corales Puntacana Championship… Rounding out the sponsor exemptions is 17-year-old Bowen Mauss (who has verbally committed to Arizona State University), Max McGreevy, who just finished second in the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, and Mike Weir – the International Team Presidents Cup captain and long-time Utah resident.
SIGNATURE EVENT STORYLINES: As part of the Aon Next 10, players ranked Nos. 51-60 through the FedExCup Fall will earn their way into two early season 2025 Signature Events – the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational… After his maiden PGA TOUR title at the Sanderson Farms, Kevin Yu jumped from No. 96 to No. 60 in the standings while Nos. 51-59 remained unchanged… Min Woo Lee was bumped to No. 61… Beau Hossler, who lost in a playoff to Yu in Mississippi, jumped from No. 87 to No. 68, while Keith Mitchell, who finished one shot back of the playoff, jumped from No. 72 to No. 66.
FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 500 FedExCup points.
The Black Desert Championship is the third event of the FedExCup Fall.
At the end of the FedExCup Fall, those that rank from 126-150 on the final FedExCup Fall Points List will have conditional status for the 2024 PGA TOUR Season.
All players outside the top 125 can improve or regain TOUR status via PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry.
COURSE: Black Desert Resort, par 71, 7,371 yards. This marks the first PGA TOUR event in Utah since 1963 (the course will also host an LPGA Tour event in 2025). The course boasts wide fairways and there’s just two water hazards in play. This is, essentially, a brand-new golf course as the Tom Weiskopf/Phil Smith course had its front nine open in November 2022 and the back nine open in May 2023. A fun note: This is the first course in PGA TOUR history to use robotic fairway mowers.
72-HOLE RECORD: Inaugural event
18-HOLE RECORD: Inaugural event
How to follow (all times ET)
Television
- Thursday-Sunday, 5-8 p.m. (Golf Channel)
PGA TOUR Live:
| Thursday | Friday | |
| Stream 1 | Featured Groups: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | Featured Groups: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. |
| Featured Group: 5-8 p.m. | Featured Group: 5-8 p.m |
PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+
- Thursday-Friday: 2-8 p.m.
- Saturday-Sunday: 3-8 p.m.