By Tom Zulewski, Iron County Today
IVINS – Competing in his first PGA Tour event as a pro, Michael Brennan ran into the ultimate brick wall in his third round at the Bank of Utah Championship. A double bogey at the par-4 2nd hole knocked him out of a share of the lead.
It would be the last of Brennan’s worries as he closed with a flourish, carding a 7-under 64 to take a two-shot lead through 54 holes at the PGA Tour’s FedEx Fall event. Defending champion Matt McCarty closed with a 29 on the back nine – his second sub-30 9-hole score of the week – and matched Brennan with a 7-under 64 to move into contention and in the final pairing for Sunday’s final round.
“I did good staying patient today, honestly,” said McCarty, who was in the lead after three rounds in last year’s event. “I know this course will yield some birdies if you hit good shots. I wasn’t hitting it great on the front nine, but I made some good pars, hung around, and gave myself a chance.”
McCarty had a bogey at the par-4 4th, but came back with birdies at 6 and 7. The left-hander added a bogey at the 12th, but didn’t slow him down as he moved up the leaderboard in search of his second PGA win.
Brennan is playing in his third PGA event and first as a pro. He had prior experience with missing the cut at the U.S. Open in 2023, but the 23-year-old who played college golf at Wake Forest said it wasn’t easy to contend with his nerves as his fellow competitors piled up the birdies.
“I was definitely a little nervous,” Brrennan said. “Nothing I hadn’t experienced playing professional golf on the Americas Tour, but I hope to draw on that experience tomorrow.”
Rico Hoey and Kevin Yu both carded rounds of 8-under 63 and trail Brennan by three shots along with Pierceson Coody, who had a 5-under 66. Hayden Springer had the round of the day with a 9-under 62 and is at 13-under, tied with Thorbjorn Olesen.