Austin Smotherman responded to a double bogey at the par-4 13th with two birdies over his next three holes to secure his first win on the PGA Tour in his 100th start.
It was far from a perfect final round at Black Desert Resort for the 32-year-old — a bogey at the par-3 17th certainly added to the drama down the closing few holes; however, Smotherman smashed his opening tee shot and tapped in for birdie to reach the winner’s circle at a course-record 26 under par.
The Dallas resident carried the lead after the second and third rounds, and started with three birdies in his first five holes that extended his lead over Doug Ghim and the rest of Bank of Utah Championship field to as many as four shots on Sunday.
“Just hit it good enough today, hit some close early that took some pressure off in the middle of the round,” Smotherman said.
The back nine bogey trouble for Smotherman prevented a runaway though.
Trace Crowe pulled within a shot of the lead when his eagle putt dropped into the hole at the par-4 14th. Ghim was two back on the final hole, needing an eagle to further amplify the pressure on Smotherman and possibly force a playoff.
Ghim’s eagle hole-out attempt came up just right, and he walked away with a birdie to post a 24 under on the tournament to finish runner-up — his best career finish. He’s still in search of his first career win, despite shooting 65-62-64-69 this week.
“Today was Austin’s day,” said Ghim, who moved from 89th to 58th in the FedEx Cup. “I did everything that I could, and hopefully I’ll learn from some of the mistakes and be a little bit more comfortable next time. But always grateful.”
Smotherman’s breakthrough makes him the ninth first-time winner on Tour this season to join the following players:
- Jacob Bridgeman, Genesis Invitational
- Ricky Castillo, Puerto Rico Open
- Alex Fitzpatrick, Zurich Classic of New Orleans
- Kristoffer Reitan, Truist Championship
- Bud Cauley, RBC Canadian Open
- Stefano Mazzoli, Corales Puntacana Championship
- Jackson Koivun, 3M Open
- Michael Thorbjornsen, Rocket Classic
He walks away from southern Utah’s black lava fields and red rock cliffs with a $1,080,000 payday.
Perhaps more important for the father of three is 500 FedExCup points and a two-year PGA Tour exemption. He also gets automatic invites to the Players Championship and the PGA Championship.
“It didn’t have to be pretty, I got some nice bounces,” said Smotherman, who copped to making some poor swings. “This game doesn’t have to be perfect.”
Smotherman had to withdraw from the Bank of Utah Championship two years ago, and found himself on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2025 as a result. After two KFT wins last year, Smotherman secured his Tour card this year.
He finished T-2 at the Cognizant Classic earlier in the year after carrying a 54-hole co-lead with Shane Lowry into Sunday’s final round.
“100 starts out here is an incredible number, just to be blessed to have 100 starts, but even more so, to play professional golf now for 10 years, travel the world, have the support I’ve had, it’s pretty unreal to lift a trophy at the highest level,” Smotherman said at his press conference. “It’s something we’ve dreamed about since I was a kid, and here we are.”
Crowe went on to finish T-3 with David Ford at 23 under. PGA Tour rookie Ben James completed his fourth T-5 finish in his last six starts, splitting the fifth spot at 22 under with veteran Kevin Streelman.
Luke Clanton had the low round of the day, posting a 9-under 62 and moving all the way up to T-7 with Steven Fisk at 21 under.
Amateur Kihei Akina avenged a missed cut at the Bank of Utah Championship last year to finish solo ninth at 20 under. It was the first top-10 finish by an amateur on Tour since Jackson Koivun finished T-4 at the 2025 Procore Championship.
The BYU sophomore earned a spot at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship that will be held from Oct. 22-25 at Port Royal Golf Course.
“We’ll see if I can get excused from class,” Akina joked.
