This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Lehi • Nicholas Lindheim's winning total was four strokes higher in relation to par than Patton Kizzire's 19-under number in last year's Utah Championship, but his score of 269 was the same.
Thanksgiving Point Golf Club's par was reduced to 71 for the 2016 tournament, with No. 5 shortened by about 100 yards and played as a 523-yard par-5. So Lindheim played a shorter course than Kizzire and Sung Kang, who competed in a playoff last summer. Several fairways were narrowed, though, and the north wind that architect Johnny Miller factored into the layout's difficulty was blowing Saturday and Sunday afternoon when the leaders were playing the last six holes.
Considering how the wind switched and intensified on the weekend, the longer rough and the psychology of facing a long par-4 as opposed to a short par-5, Lindheim said, "I thought it played more difficult this year, but I played better."
Lindheim tied for 29th place in 2015, shooting 9 under par. As a par-4, No. 5 played to a 4.137 stroke average, the fifth-most difficult hole on the course.
Easier Monday
Brian Richey, who opened with a 64 and held the second-round lead after a 68, closed with 71-77 and fell to a tie for 21st place. The finish was a letdown for Richey, considering the possibilities that awaited him going into the weekend. The consolation is that a top-25 finish gets him into the Web.com Tour's next event in northern California, after he had to Monday-qualify for the Utah Championship.
Charlie Danielson, another Monday qualifier, advanced with a tie for 15th. Danielson beat Lehi resident Tony Finau in a playoff in sectional qualifying event for the U.S. Open in June, although Finau got into the tournament as an alternate.
Olympian effort
Cheng Tsung Pan of Chinese Taipei, one of three Olympic golfers in the field, closed with a 67 to tie for 10th place and move to 19th on the season's money list. Pan will have to skip one Web.com Tour event to play in Rio de Janeiro in the 60-player Olympic tournament that runs Aug. 11-14. He will miss the Opening Ceremony while playing in Overland Park, Kan. That's because he's concerned about maintaining his top-25 status on the money list and earning one of the PGA Tour cards that will be awarded in late August. —
Leaderboard
Utah Championship
At Golf Club at Thanksgiving Point
Lehi, Utah
Purse: $650,000
Yardage: 7,585 Par: 71
Final
Nicholas Lindheim, $117,000 67-66-67-69 — 269
J.J. Spaun, $70,200 68-68-65-70 — 271
Xander Schauffele, $44,200 69-70-68-65 — 272
Austin Cook, $31,200 67-70-67-69 — 273
Sebastian Cappelen, $26,000 69-71-67-67 — 274
Bill Lunde, $22,588 69-66-74-66 — 275
Ollie Schniederjans, $22,588 66-69-67-73 — 275
Trey Mullinax, $19,500 66-69-74-67 — 276
Alex Prugh, $19,500 66-69-74-67 — 276
Jack Maguire, $16,250 70-68-68-71 — 277
Keith Mitchell, $16,250 68-69-74-66 — 277
Cheng Tsung Pan, $16,250 74-66-70-67 — 277
Ryan Blaum, $13,000 71-68-72-67 — 278
Cody Gribble, $13,000 69-71-69-69 — 278
Erik Barnes, $10,075 73-66-73-67 — 279
Charlie Danielson, $10,075 67-69-72-71 — 279
Jeff Gove, $10,075 70-69-70-70 — 279
Jonathan Randolph, $10,075 73-66-70-70 — 279
Kevin Tway, $10,075 70-69-70-70 — 279
Drew Weaver, $10,075 66-72-70-71 — 279
Michael Hebert, $6,336 72-67-72-69 — 280
Adam Schenk, $6,336 67-70-73-70 — 280
Adam Long, $6,336 66-74-71-69 — 280
Brian Richey, $6,336 64-68-71-77 — 280
Adam Svensson, $6,336 67-69-73-71 — 280
Peter Tomasulo, $6,336 64-73-69-74 — 280
Chris Wilson, $6,336 68-72-67-73 — 280
Todd Baek, $4,583 68-69-72-72 — 281
Chris Baker, $4,583 68-72-74-67 — 281
John Rollins, $4,583 66-68-75-72 — 281
Zack Sucher, $4,583 72-68-67-74 — 281
Steven Alker, $3,190 69-70-74-69 — 282
Joel Dahmen, $3,190 68-70-71-73 — 282
Matt Davidson, $3,190 68-72-75-67 — 282
Brad Elder, $3,190 68-71-73-70 — 282
Zack Fischer, $3,190 70-70-74-68 — 282
Scott Gardiner, $3,190 67-72-74-69 — 282
Jhared Hack, $3,190 68-72-69-73 — 282
Stephan Jaeger, $3,190 67-70-72-73 — 282
Andrew Putnam, $3,190 66-67-70-79 — 282
Tag Ridings, $3,190 69-69-71-73 — 282
Ryan Spears, $3,190 67-73-71-71 — 282
Darron Stiles, $3,190 69-70-72-71 — 282
Sebastian Vazquez, $3,190 69-69-70-74 — 282
Eric Axley, $2,004 72-67-72-72 — 283
Brett Drewitt, $2,004 71-69-74-69 — 283
John Mallinger, $2,004 68-70-77-68 — 283
Marc Turnesa, $2,004 67-69-75-72 — 283
Rick Lamb, $2,004 66-70-72-75 — 283
Kyoung-Hoon Lee, $2,004 67-73-68-75 — 283
Mackenzie Hughes, $1,803 72-67-69-76 — 284
Doug Letson, $1,803 71-67-75-71 — 284
Adam Mitchell, $1,803 69-70-73-72 — 284
Chris Naegel, $1,803 73-67-71-73 — 284
Tyler Weworski, $1,803 68-72-73-71 — 284
Josh Geary, $1,710 67-70-73-75 — 285
Matt Harmon, $1,710 66-71-74-74 — 285
Kyle Jones, $1,710 71-67-74-73 — 285
Taylor Pendrith, $1,710 69-71-72-73 — 285
Jim Renner, $1,710 71-67-73-74 — 285
Aaron Watkins, $1,710 71-69-71-74 — 285
Anders Albertson, $1,658 68-70-73-75 — 286
Jesse Speirs, $1,658 69-70-74-73 — 286
Tyler Duncan, $1,625 71-69-77-71 — 288
Max Marsico, $1,625 69-71-79-69 — 288
Brady Schnell, $1,625 69-70-76-73 — 288
Travis Bertoni, $1,599 71-69-74-75 — 289
Jason Allred, $1,580 72-68-71-81 — 292
Jimmy Gunn, $1,580 70-69-72-81 — 292