FARMINGTON — Daniel Summerhays came into this week’s Utah Championship in the worst slump of his professional career. Having lost his PGA Tour exemption after eight seasons, he had only made three cuts in 15 tournaments this year, earned less than $10,000 and stood 163rd on the Korn Ferry Tour points list.
Now, taking advantage of a rare opportunity to play at home before friends and family at the golf course he grew up on, Summerhays is on the verge of winning a tournament for the first time in a dozen years.
The 35-year-old former Davis High and BYU golfer is tied for the lead after three rounds of the $725,000 tournament at Oakridge Country Club, and a victory Sunday afternoon would put him in great position to get back out on the PGA Tour again next year as he would vault into the top 25 on the Korn Ferry Tour. His last victory came on the same tour in 2007 when he was still an amateur.
I think I’ll be more comfortable here than in any other big setting that I’ve been in. – Daniel Summerhays
Following his second straight 68, he is tied with Ohio golfer Justin Lower at 11-under-par 202 with four golfers a stroke behind and three more golfers two behind on a crowded leaderboard.
But getting back on the PGA Tour is not what is motivating Summerhays this week and won’t be Sunday as he plays the final round with a few hundred well-wishers cheering his every shot.
“Honestly it’s not about getting my PGA Tour card back,” he said. “It’s to perform in front of my family and friends. I feel zero pressure from anybody to do anything. It would be more for achievement, to see what you can do under the gun.”
Summerhays has been in this position before on the PGA Tour, most recently at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio in 2017. He went into the final round with a three-stroke lead, but struggled on the final day and finished in a tie for 10th after a 78. He feels he’s learned from past experience and that will help him Sunday.
“I think I’ll be more comfortable here than in any other big setting that I’ve been in,” he said. “I’ve played in most every golf tournament in the world and been in the last group of major championships. I’ll draw off that experience. I’ve learned, whether it was from the U.S. Open, PGA Championship, the Memorial — all those things I’ve learned from those experiences will aid me tomorrow.”
Summerhays does admit he would be quite emotional if he happens to win Sunday, saying, “You’d probably see me cry for sure.” In fact, after he hit a shot close to the pin at No. 5 Saturday and the “fans went nuts,” he said, “I got choked up because of all the support.”
He had begun the day a shot behind Tyrone Van Aswegen and after playing the front nine in 1-under, he got rolling with birdies at 12, 14 and 15. He suddenly had a two-stroke lead, but a poor approach shot into No. 17 from 110 yards left him some 80 feet away and he three-putted. Meanwhile up at No. 18, Lower sank a 25-foot birdie putt, leaving both players at 11-under.
The four players at 10-under include Charlie Saxon, Kevin Dougherty, Rob Oppenheim and Joshua Creel, while first-round leader Robert Garrigus, two-time 2019 winner Robby Shelton and Lanto Griffin, No. 4 on the money list, stand at 9-under. Seven more golfers are at 8-under, while four are at 7-under.
Two other Utah golfers are in contention in a tie for 22nd place at 6-under-par 207.
Park City professional Steele DeWald, who qualified on Monday, surviving a five-man playoff at Talons Cove, shot a 67, while Orem’s Zac Blair shot an even-par 71.
Both players had moved into the top 10 during their rounds, but DeWald fell back with a bogey on his final hole, while Blair had a pair of back-nine bogeys after two front-nine birdies.
While both players are trying to move up as far as possible in the standings, DeWald has special incentive to finish in the top 25 because it would get him into next week’s Korn Ferry event in New York.
Blair tees off at 1 p.m. with Van Aswegen, who shot a 74 Saturday, while DeWald goes off at 1:10 p.m. with Jimmy Gunn.
Summerhays and Lower will play in the final group and tee off at 3 p.m.
Summerhays says he “loves Sundays” and plans to get up and go to church with his family at the local wardhouse and sit on the same bench with his family for a change. Then he’ll get ready early afternoon and be rarin’ to go at 3 o’clock.
“No matter what, win or not tomorrow, I feel like I’ve done myself proud and all my friends and family proud,” he said. “I expect to do really well tomorrow.”
UTAH CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD
- Daniel Summerhays 202
- Justin Lower 202
- Charlie Saxon 203
- Kevin Dougherty 203
- Rob Oppenheim 203
- Joshua Creel 203