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Provo • A year after former BYU star Jordan Rodgers just missed becoming the first golfer since Ed Kingsley in 1934 to win the Utah Open title the same summer that he won the State Amateur, a current Cougar star is threatening to pull off the historic feat.
State Am champion Patrick Fishburn, who will be a junior at BYU this fall, tied the course record at Riverside Country Club with a 10-under-par 62 on Friday in the opening round of the 54-hole Siegfried & Jensen Utah Open.
His round in the morning when winds were considerably calmer than in the afternoon featured nine birdies, an eagle and a bogey. It tied the 62 that St. George's Jay Don Blake shot in the State Am at Riverside in 1980 and the 62 that Utah pro Dusty Fielding posted in the final round here last year.
Fishburn has a four-shot lead over professionals Kane Webber, Zahkai Brown, Ty Travis, Jesse Mueller and Brandon Kida heading into Saturday's second round. Kida recently turned pro after exhausting his eligibility at the University of Utah. Webber and Brown are from Colorado, Travis is from Boise, Idaho, and Mueller is from Phoenix.
At 67 are Jake Ellison, a former BYU golfer who now lives in Las Vegas, and Park City's Craig Hocknull.
Because he is an amateur, Ogden's Fishburn can't claim the $21,000 check that goes to the winner after Sunday's final round, but he can put his name on the trophy and become the first non-professional to win the Utah Open since Weber State's Greg Buckway in 2004.
Playing on the BYU golf team's home course, where he has played hundreds of times, Fishburn overwhelmed Riverside, playing the four par-5s in 5-under par. He made an eagle on the par-5 7th hole, sinking a 20-foot putt.
"I can usually hit a lot of fairways and greens, but the key today was making putts," said the 6-foot-4 Fishburn, whose prodigious length is legendary in the Utah golf community. "I just felt good with the putter. It was crazy."
Fishburn said he lipped out four or five other putts, or he'd have sole ownership of the course record on a track that has also hosted Tiger Woods, David Duval and John Daly.
"It seems like every putt I missed was still close to going in," Fishburn said. "I played well in all aspects."
Just like when he stormed to the State Am title last month at Alpine Country Club, Fishburn bombed the ball all day with his driver — he doesn't even carry a 3-wood — and dominated Riverside, which is a bit tougher this summer after some recent course renovations.
"My goal is to birdie every single hole no matter what score I am at," he said. "I just like to play aggressively, bomb the driver and try to make birdies and eagles."
Rodgers, who won the 2015 State Am at Soldier Hollow and then finished second to Nathan Lashley at last year's Utah Open, shot a 69 Friday and is tied for 16th. The group tied for ninth at 68 includes Farmington amateur Cole Ponich, Sandy's Todd Tanner and Riverside's own Chris Moody.
The total purse is $135,000. The low 60 players, plus ties, will make the cut after Saturday's second round.
Twitter: @drewjay —
Siegfried & Jensen Utah Open
At Par-72 Riverside Country Club, Provo
First-Round Leaders ( a-denotes amateur)
62 - a-Patrick Fishburn
66 - Kane Webber, Zahkai Brown, Ty Travis, Brandon Kida, Jesse Mueller
67 - Jake Ellison, Craig Hocknull
68 - a-Cole Ponich, Martin Trainer, Todd Tanner, Tracy Zobell, Chris Moody, Owen Mahaffey, Colby Myers
69 - Jordan Rodgers, Joe Summerhays, Zach Johnson, Cole Ogden, a-Rhett Rasmussen, Ian Maxwell
70 - Matt Baird, Mitch Carlson, Davis Garner, Gipper Finau, Bruce Summerhays Jr., a-Ryan Brimley, Clay Ogden
71 - Dusty Fielding, Justin Keiley, Casey Fowles, Isaac Jimison, Braden Baer, a-Max Brenchley, Chris Stover, Ryan Kartchner, Mark Owen, a-Hayden Banz, a-Joe Parkinson, Chase Barnes
72 - a-CJ Lee, Nick Killpack, Scott Spiewak, Tim Harris, Steele DeWald, Pete Stone, Tele Wightman, Alex Chiarella
73 - a-Dan Horner, Scott Brandt, Colby Cowan, Steve Schneiter, Dustin Mills, Sam Jandel, a-Zach Jones, James Drew, Tommy Sharp, Chris Gresh, Barry Schenk, Seokwon Jeon, a-Peter Kuest, a-Blair Bursey
74 - Eddie Stewart, Dustin Volk, Tanner Alder, Jon W. Scolari, Dave Poggi, Cam Howe, Nicholas Mason, Jere Pelletier
75 - a-Jon Wright, Milo Lines, Jacob Holt, Mark Boggs, Jordan Van Orman, Quentin Sasser, Michael Jurca, Clint Godfrey, Ryan Colemere, a-Cameron Crawford, a-JT Timmons
76 - Travis Hilton, Troy Watkins, Derek Butts, Eric Nielsen, Chip Wesley, Allen Enochson, Jordan Bloxham, Jerry Sneve, Chad Pettingill, Ryan Rhees, Brett Wayment, a-Brock Nielson, Jimmy Blair, Bryan Anderson
77 - Stu Nelson, Taylor Laybourne, Jake Blair, Mike Malaska, Kim Thompson, Dustin Pimm, Shawn Edwards, Adam Johnson, Hayden Christensen
78 - a-Pat Murphy, Michael Orchard, a-Dalton Stanger, Jeremy Green, Steven Friesen, Dave DeSantis, a-John Lillywhite, a-Gage Christensen.