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PGA TOUR Black Desert Championship: Round 3
Zac Blair’s golf ball trickled slowly toward the hole on Black Desert Resort’s No. 15 green. The timing was ideal.
Blair needed a birdie to redirect his Saturday. This stage was a good setting for it, as a big crowd was gathered in the Life Elevated fan deck alongside the green. So when the 36-foot, downhill putt finally dropped, Blair delivered an uppercut with his fist, then waved his hands in almost a mock celebration as the gallery responded even more.
Utah’s Zac Blair celebrates a long birdie putt during Saturday’s round of the Black Desert Championship in Ivins, UT.
“Yeah, that was fun,” Blair said. “I was just messing around. It was fun to see one go in … in front of the crowd, even better.”
The birdie, one of five for Blair in the third round of the Black Desert Championship presented by Greater Zion, came after a tee shot into the water led to a double bogey on the par-4 No. 13. Ending his day on the par-5 No. 9, Blair hit a wedge shot from 117 yards to within 2 feet for another birdie and a 1-under-par 70.
Thanks to a two-tee start that followed the Saturday morning completion of the second round, Blair finished far away from the buildout around No. 18. But he got a good taste of the fans’ response to the first PGA Tour event in Utah in 61 years. The tournament sold out its allotment of grounds passes for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The PGA TOUR’s Patton Kizzire and Zac Blair greet Utah golf fans following Saturday’s round of the Black Desert Championship.
“Fun seeing all the crowds and all the support out there,” Blair said. “It’s a good representation of Utah.”
The Orem resident described the round as his best of the week, even though putting issues gave him a higher score after a 68-69 start. Here’s where it gets interesting: Blair is tied for 59th place in Ivins, entering Sunday’s final round. Even though he’ll earn some points this weekend, he’s currently projected to drop six spots to No. 116 in the FedEx Cup Fall standings. In mid-November, the top 125 players will keep their tour cards for 2025.
Blair’s approach to all of this? “Just keep telling myself that you’re playing well, and you’ll have a good week when it matters. It’s starting to matter.”
Matt McCarty is where Blair would love to be, one of these weeks. He’s the leader at 19 under par, having shot 62-68-64 in his second event since receiving a three-event promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour. McCarty, a Santa Clara alumnus who played against BYU in the West Coast Conference, tied for second place in the Utah Championship at Oakridge Country Club in August, posting 70-62-61-68 for a 23-under total.McCarty finished his suspended (darkness) second round Saturday morning, playing with former BYU golfer Peter Kuest.
Joe Highsmith, another former WCC golfer (Pepperdine), is tied for second place, two strokes behind McCarty.
PGA TOUR Black Desert Championship third round recap written by Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe. Photos by Fairways Media/Randy Dodson and Garrit Johnson.