Cristobal Del Solar takes solo lead into weekend at Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and Intermountain Health

Things to Know

• 30-year-old Chilean Cristobal Del Solar – who achieved #TOURBound status earlier this year, securing his PGA TOUR card for next season – posts a bogey-free 8-under 63 to take the outright 36-hole lead at the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and Intermountain Health.
• Matt McCarty and Karl Vilips card the low rounds of the day with 9-under 62s.
• Six Utah residents made the 36-hole cut: Daniel Summerhays, Peter Kuest, Cooper Jones, Max Brenchley, Carson Lundell and Kihei Akina.
• The 36-hole cut was made at 6-under, with 78 players advancing to the weekend.
• Third-round tee times will run from 6:50-11:10 a.m. local time in groups off of No. 1.
• The third round will be broadcast live on the Golf Channel from 3–6 p.m. EST.

Second-Round Lead Notes

16 – Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and

Intermountain Health

5 – Second-round leaders/co-leaders to win on Tour in 2024

Cristobal Del Solar (Leader/-15)

• Carded a bogey-free 8-under 63, making birdies on Nos.1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 12, 14, 15
• Matches the lowest 36-hole score relative to par of his career at 15-under (127) (15-under (126)/2024 Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard)
• Finished T29 at the 2023 Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank and Intermountain Health in only other previous start at the event
• Secured his PGA TOUR card for next season and was declared #TOURBound after his victory earlier this season at The Ascendant presented by Blue; the first Korn Ferry Tour victory of his career
• Second 36-hole lead/co-lead of his Korn Ferry Tour career (2024 Visit Knoxville Open/finished T8)
• Recorded the lowest 18-hole score in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event with a 13-under par 57 in the first round of the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard in Bogota, Colombia
  • Posted a 27 on the front nine, the lowest nine-hole score in Korn Ferry Tour history
• Last year as a rookie, finished 52nd on the Points List to earn fully exempt membership for the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour season
  • In 25 starts last season, tallied eight top-25 finishes and four top-10s, highlighted by a T5 at the NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank
• Turned professional in 2017, playing on PGA TOUR Canada in 2017 and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica from 2018-22
• Won four times on PGA TOUR Latinoamérica (now PGA TOUR Americas since merging with PGA TOUR Canada) tying him for the second-most career wins in the Tour’s history
• Moved to the United States when he was 15 years old and attended IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida
• Played five seasons at Florida State University from 2012-17, winning once and garnering 2017 All-America Third Team recognition, as well as All-Atlantic Coast Conference laurels in 2016 and 2017
• Plays from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, but was originally born in Vina del Mar, Chile, roughly 76 miles from Santiago, where the Korn Ferry Tour’s Astara Chile Classic presented by Scotiabank is contested

Quotables

Del Solar on his 8-under 63… “I think I played really well overall. Actually, yesterday pretty similar, too. Things have been pretty good both rounds. Just hitting the ball pretty consistent. Off the tee I kind of find myself in a few trees, but every time I've been on the fairway I've been able to convert. I think it's been pretty good so far.”

Del Solar on his play in the events following his win… “Yeah, looking back, I probably would like to take that week off after. I just kept playing because, I don't know. If I would go back, I would probably go home and kind of rest. Everybody kind of told me the same thing, like what are you doing here in Springfield? I was like, I don't know, I'm just obviously trying to keep playing. I wasn't really mentally there. Honestly, I was very mentally exhausted. Even Chicago a little bit, but not so much because I went home after Springfield. Then I got to Chicago on Wednesday, probably not doing that again, either. Probably want to do some really good practice rounds and go after it. Yeah, I mean, I think it's just after playing I wouldn't say good, after you win, I was very mentally tired. And after such a long year, we've had a lot of weeks over and over, so a lot of weeks in a row. I think I'll probably take a week off and enjoy it after.”

Vilips on his career low 9-under 62… “Had it rolling early, made a lot of putts, got it going with a 25 footer on No. 1, which was nice to see go in after yesterday, didn't make a lot of putts. Hit a couple of drives close to the green, which was nice. I think highlights of the day were my second shot on No. 8 out of the left rough. It was obviously a tough hole. To get out of there with a birdie just kept the momentum going. I would say the eagle on No. 14, just two really nice shots in there. And to make the putt after a little bit of after wobbly bounce, to see it go in was nice. And then 18 was also really nice to finish with a birdie.”

Vilips on his expectations after turning professional… “I think you obviously want to come out here and play well. I'm just coming out and playing my game. To see the results I'm getting is nice just to see where my game stacks up with some of the best out here. I've had this question a lot. Like the goals and everything, they've obviously changed. To see what I can do out here with my game at the moment's really nice because some days I don't hit it well and I scratch out like a 2 or 3 under, which is a lot better than what I was doing before I came into the Korn Ferry Tour. To see that progress is really nice.

Notes

• Fourth-year member David Kocher (second/-14) cards a bogey-free 8-under 63 to log the lowest 36-hole score of his career with a 14-under 128 (previous; 129/2022 Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper).
• Colombian Marcelo Rozo (T3/-13) stands at T3 for the best 36-hole position of his career on Tour (previous; 4th/2019 NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank) after a 6-under 65 on Friday.
• Vilips (T3/-13) and McCarty (T15/-10) turn in the low rounds of the day with 9-under 62s; Vilips surpasses his previous career low of 63 that he posted in the final round of last week’s NV5 Invitational, While McCarty – who played the second round bogey-free – matches his career low (2024 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS/R3).
• Korn Ferry Tour winner Brett Drewitt (T5/-12), who makes his fifth cut in his seventh start at the Utah Championship, ties the second-best 36-hole score of his career with a 12-under 130 (129/2020 Memorial Health Championship).
• Kaysville, Utah, native Summerhays (T15/-10) turns in a 3-under 68 to make his eighth career cut at the Utah Championship in what is his 10th start (best finish; T2/2020).
• Former BYU Cougar Kuest (T49/-7) holes out with a 7-iron from 217 yards on the par-5 second for the second albatross of the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Season (Timmy Crawford/No. 3/The Ascendant presented by Blue/R3) to make the cut at 7-under.
• 18-year-old Kihei Akina (T49/-7), who is competing on a sponsor exemption this week, makes the cut in his first-ever start in a Korn Ferry Tour event.
• Four open qualifiers advanced to the weekend: Cooper Jones (T26/-9), Noah Woolsey (T34/-8), Max Brenchley (T66/-6) and Carson Lundell (T66/-6).
  • Woolsey and Brenchley both make the cut in their first starts in a Korn Ferry Tour event.
  • Jones makes his second cut in his third start on the Tour this season.