100 Starts, One Breakthrough: Austin Smotherman Wins at Black Desert
A record 26 under, a double bogey that almost cost him, and a 100-to-1 long shot's first PGA Tour title.
It took Austin Smotherman 100 starts on the PGA Tour to win one. On Sunday at Black Desert Golf Course in Ivins, Utah, he finally did it, winning the Bank of Utah Championship at 26 under par. That's a tournament record, and it came with a two-stroke cushion over Doug Ghim.
The 32-year-old had lost his PGA Tour status before winning twice in three weeks on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn his way back for 2025. Earlier this year, he led the Cognizant Classic after 36 and 54 holes and settled for a tie for second. This time, he closed.
By the numbers
−26
Winning score, a tournament record
258
Strokes over 72 holes: 63-62-65-68
32
Birdies, the most in the field
100
PGA Tour starts it took to win
How Sunday played out
Smotherman started fast, with three birdies in his first five holes, and at one point led by four. Then the par-4 13th happened: a double bogey that cut his lead in half. When Trace Crowe eagled the 14th, the lead was down to one.
That's usually where first-time winners fold. Smotherman didn't. He birdied 14 and 16 to rebuild his cushion, gave one back with a bogey at the par-3 17th, then birdied the par-5 18th to finish with a 68. "It didn't have to be pretty," he said afterward. It wasn't, but it was enough.
Final leaderboard
| Pos. | Player | To par | Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin Smotherman | −26 | $1,080,000 |
| 2 | Doug Ghim | −24 | $654,000 |
| T3 | David Ford | −23 | $354,000 |
| T3 | Trace Crowe | −23 | $354,000 |
| T5 | Kevin Streelman | −22 | $231,750 |
| T5 | Ben James | −22 | $231,750 |
| T7 | Luke Clanton | −21 | $195,000 |
| T7 | Steven Fisk | −21 | $195,000 |
| 9 | Kihei Akina (amateur) | −20 | — |
The economics of it
Look at that earnings column. Smotherman made $1.08 million. Ghim, just two shots back, made $654,000. Those two strokes were worth about $426,000, or roughly $213,000 apiece. The winner took home 18% of the $6 million purse, and the drop-off after first place is steep.
Economists have a name for this: tournament theory. When pay is based on rank instead of output, and the top prize is much bigger than the rest, players have a strong incentive to push hard for first. It's the same idea behind why CEOs are paid so much more than vice presidents. Golf's payout structure is a textbook example.
And the check is only part of it. The win comes with a two-year PGA Tour exemption, which is job security in a sport where status is never guaranteed. For a player who has already lost his card once, that might be worth more than the money.
My unfiltered take
This is my favorite kind of sports story. Smotherman was a 100-to-1 long shot, he'd been knocked off the tour before, and he blew a 54-hole lead earlier this year. When that double bogey hit on 13, it would've been easy to think, "here we go again." Instead, he answered with two birdies. That's not luck. That's a player who learned from losing.
Landrey
