Utah Championship golf: Hitchner sinks birdie putt to win 5-way playoff
BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner
Derek Hitchner of Minnesota holds up the Utah Championship trophy after winning the Korn Ferry Tour event in a playoff Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026, at Ogden Golf & Country Club in South Ogden. (BRIAN WOLFER, Special to the Standard-Examiner)With a crowd at the top, it seemed inevitable the final round of the Utah Championship would come down to the final hole.
A final final hole, actually.
After five players finished tied at 21-under for the tournament, Derek Hitchner of Minnesota outlasted that group of five on a playoff hole to claim his first win on the PGA’s Korn Ferry Tour at the Ogden Golf & Country Club in South Ogden.
Hitchner made a 5-foot birdie putt on a replay of the 18th hole that included Mason Andersen of Arizona leaving his birdie putt that would’ve extended the playoff on the lip and unable to fall in.
Andersen, Cole Hammer of Texas, Travis Trace of Florida and Tommy Morrison of Texas forged the tie, resulting in the playoff hole. Morrison, the only of the group in the KFT’s top 50 entering the event at No. 8, shot a 7-under 63 that included birdies on four of the last five holes to get himself to the extra hole.
Daniel Summerhays, the only Utahn in the field to make the weekend, carded a 3-under 67 on Sunday, including an eagle on the Par-5 third hole, to finish tied for 50th at 13-under for the week.
Blades Brown of Tennessee, the 19-year-old rising star, birdied four times on the back nine but couldn’t seal the deal, finishing one shot back of the leaders. He did, however, push himself to a No. 9 ranking on the tour.
Ian Holt of Ohio finished tied for ninth, two back of the leaders at 19-under, and moved himself to the No. 1 ranking on the Korn Ferry Tour. Chris Francoeur of Massachusetts, who shot a course record 59 on Friday to enter the weekend at 17-under, didn’t muster many more low marks but still finished with Holt in a tie for ninth.
Ogden native Connor Howe missed the cut, which was at 6-under, by following a 5-under 65 with a 3-over score on Friday. Ogden native Mitchell Schow and Alpine’s Zac Jones missed the cut at 1-under. Summerhays’ nephew, Preston, missed the cut by one stroke, finishing the first two rounds at 5-under.
Hitchner claimed $180,000 out of a $1 million purse for his victory. His first top-25 finish is a victory, and it launches him up the KFT rankings from 136th to 26th. The rest of the leaders went home with $58,250. Daniel Summerhays grabbed $4,218.
This weekend marked the 35th Utah Championship on the PGA’s undercard tour and second consecutive in Ogden. The country club is set to host for a third time in 2027.
