IVINS, Utah (AP) — Henrik Norlander and Korn Ferry Tour grad Matt McCarty each played bogey-free for a 9-under 62 to share the lead Thursday in the Black Desert Championship as the PGA Tour returned to Utah for the first time in 61 years.
Black Desert Resort had a gorgeous day to make its debut with a Tom Weiskopf design cut through an ancient field of black lava and surrounded by the red rock mountains some 30 miles from Zion National Park.
Norlander couldn’t have asked for much more. He hit all 14 fairways and every green in posting his best round on the PGA Tour.
“I think everybody out on this tour when they play well, every course is going to be fine for them, and vice versa,” Norlander said. “I really like it here. It’s a fun course, a lot of opportunities, but you’ve got to hit good shots because the greens are somewhat severe, and you’ve got to get it in the right portions to play well.”
Keith Mitchell, who missed out on playoff last week with a three-putt bogey on the last hole in Mississippi, and 65-year-old Jay Don Blake were among late starters. Blake, a Utah native, was given an exemption for his home state’s first PGA Tour event since 1963. Blake is making his 500th career start on the PGA Tour.
McCarty started his year on the Korn Ferry Tour and won three times, earning an instant promotion to the PGA Tour. He had to wait until the FedEx Cup Fall to get started, and this is his second tournament.
He had four 2s on his card, one of them an eagle on the reachable par-4 fifth when he hit his tee shot to 35 feet. The signature of a Weiskopf course is reachable par 4s, and Black Desert Resort has one on each nine.
The fairways are generous, though the penalty for missing them is severe — often the black lava rock, not 4-inch rough.
“Hitting fairways out here is very important because if not I think you’re kind of re-teeing, so that was helpful,” said McCarty, who essentially missed only one fairway — two others were on the short par 4s — and that was in a bunker.
Black Desert is new to everyone. It might help that McCarty grew up playing desert golf in the Phoenix area. Missing fairways in the desert sometimes means only desert plants stop the ball from rolling when it gets off the fairway.
“Kind of feels like home,” he said.
Kevin Streelman had a 64, while the group at 65 included Ben Kohles, who had a hole-in-one on the 17th hole, which was playing 130 yards with a front pin and a backstop. Several other players came within inches of an ace.
Others at 65 from the early side of the draw included Houston Open winner Stephen Jaeger and Harry Hall, who won the ISCO Championship in Kentucky. That win didn’t get Hall into the Masters because it was held the same week as the Scottish Open.
The Black Desert Championship comes with a Masters invitation. Most of the focus this time of the year is on finishing in the top 125 to retain a full PGA Tour card for 2025.
Norlander arrived in Utah at No. 131, so this could be a big week for the 37-year-old Swede.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t think about it,” Norlander said. “But I really tried all year to do a better job of hitting one shot at a time. I know it’s boring, but I feel like I’m getting better at it, and I need to keep getting better at it.”
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