Blair, Fishburn Enter Weekend In Top 5 Position At Utah Championship
Aug 5, 2022, 4:42 PM | Updated: 4:43 pm
Patrick Fishburn stands over a tee shot at the Utah Championship at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, Utah. (Photo by Tom Hackett of KSL Sports)
(Photo by Tom Hackett of KSL Sports)
SALT LAKE CITY – Zac Blair and Patrick Fishburn will enter the weekend at the Utah Championship both inside the top five following rounds of three-under-par, 68, during the second round.
Blair Continues To Lead Locals At Utah Championship
Blair began Friday morning one shot off the lead following a bogey-free opening round and responded with another bogey-free second round. However, the wind picked up on Friday making scoring more difficult. Following seven birdies on Thursday, Blair only managed three birdies on Friday.
His driving accuracy also took a hit on Friday as he only managed to find the fairway 64% of the time which led to fewer greens in regulation. Nevertheless, Blair finds himself in lone third position with two rounds to play and in a perfect position to make a run at his second Korn Ferry Tour victory.
His only win on the Korn Ferry Tour came in 2019 when he won the Ellie Mae Classic at TPC Stonebrae.
Fishburn In Contention Entering Weekend
Patrick Fishburn is also close to the top of the leaderboard at nine-under-par through two rounds. Fishburn is just two shots behind the leaders.
Unlike Blair, Fishburn did make a bogey on Friday, in fact, he made two.
Zac Blair fires a first-round (-7) 64 and sits T4 heading into the @KornFerryTour @UTChampionship second round today at Oakridge. He tees off at 7:45 am.
Patrick Fishburn (-6) is one-stroke back at T9 and starts at 7:55. Leaders are (-8).#utahgolf #fairwaysmedia pic.twitter.com/EBNKKXwBHe— Fairways Media (@FairwaysMedia) August 5, 2022
Fishburn went one-over-par on the day when he made bogey on the par 3 6th but immediately recovered with a birdie on the par 5 4th. He made the turn at even par for the day and six-under-par for the tournament.
Fishburn then went on a run as he strung three consecutive birdies together between holes 11 and 13. Another birdie dropped on 15 but a closing bogey fell on 17 and he concluded his second round at three-under.
Much like Blair, Fishburn’s numbers took a hit on Friday due to the increased difficulty in weather conditions. Fishburn found the fairway 71% of the time and hit the green in regulation 83%.
The putter let Fishburn down in the second round as he averaged 1.8 putts per green. On Thursday, Fishburn averaged 1.6 putts per green on his way to seven-under-par.
Korn Ferry Tour Standings
Both Blair and Fishburn are hopeful to make a jump in the KFT Standings. Fishburn is currently 71st while Blair is 147th. If both players remain in their current Utah Championship position, Fishburn would jump to 51 and Blair to 80. Only one more tournament remains in the regular season and the top 75 players qualify for the KFT Playoffs.
Other locals in the field include Daniel Summerhays* (-3), Peter Kuest* (-4), Carson Lundell* (+3), Davis Timmins* (+3), and Austen Christiansen (-7).
The projected cut is currently at -4.
*still playing second round
