Austin Smotherman Wins First PGA Tour Title at Bank of Utah

Austin Smotherman closed with a birdie at the par-5 18th to finish at 26-under and claim his maiden PGA Tour title at the Bank of Utah Championship, holding off Doug Ghim by two strokes at Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah.

How did Smotherman close out his first win?

Smotherman carried a one-stroke lead over Ghim into Sunday after rounds of 63, 62 and a Saturday 65. He opened the final round with birdies at the first, fourth and fifth holes to push his lead to three shots, then made seven straight pars before a double bogey at the par-4 13th - the result of a bunker shot that failed to escape on his first try - cut his cushion to one.

He answered immediately, driving the green at the par-4 14th and making birdie after his eagle putt slid by. A birdie at the 16th restored a two-shot cushion before a bogey at 17 trimmed it back to two over Ghim. Smotherman found the fairway at 18 and two-putted from just short of the green for the winning birdie.

Who else was in contention?

Ghim birdied the first and seventh holes but went out of bounds at the par-5 ninth for a bogey, the same mistake he had made there the previous day, and could not match Smotherman's closing birdies. David Ford shot a final-round 64, and Trace Crowe eagled the 14th to get within one shot before birdieing the last; both finished tied with Ghim for second at 24-under.

"This game doesn't have to be perfect." — Austin Smotherman

What did this win mean for Smotherman?

The victory arrived in Smotherman's 100th career PGA Tour start, a decade after he turned pro out of SMU and worked through two seasons on PGA Tour Latinoamerica and more than two on the Korn Ferry Tour. He had come close before, finishing runner-up at the Cognizant Championship in March after his first 54-hole lead on tour, but a mixed stretch that included a withdrawal from the Arnold Palmer Invitational and an 80th-place finish in the FedEx Cup standings followed. Reflecting on Sunday's round, Smotherman said: "This game doesn't have to be perfect."