Former BYU golfer Zac Blair among 3 past Utah State Am champs in U.S. Open field at Oakmont this week

Yahoo

15-06-2025

Zac Blair hits off the 12th tee during the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge golf tournament at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, Thursday, May 22, 2025. | LM Otero, Associated Press
Zac Blair has made a splash at the 125th U.S. Open, and the former BYU golfer hasn't even hit an official shot yet.
Playing in a practice round at Oakmont Country Club just outside Pittsburgh on Tuesday with 2024 champion Bryson DeChambeau, the diminutive and ever-creative Blair pulled out a putter from the fairway and came within feet of holing a 'putt' from 122 yards out.
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The incredible shot from the No. 1 fairway was caught on camera and posted to social media by Andy Johnson with The Fried Egg on Tuesday afternoon, and went viral. The 488-yard first hole, a par-4, played as the most difficult hole on the course during the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, won by big-hitter Dustin Johnson.
Oakmont, which will play at 7,372 yards on Thursday when the tournament begins, is widely considered as one of the toughest tests of golf in the world, let alone the United States. Blair's unique shot signaled how extremely fast the greens can be, along with how hard and fast the fairways can be as well.
'There are not a ton of places week-in and week-out that are like, omigosh, this is dead. How do I make bogey from here?'
Zac Blair on the difficulty of Oakmont Country Club, site of this year's U.S. Open
Then there's the rough, some of the gnarliest in the land.
'It's pretty primed to be in really good shape on Thursday,' Blair told the KSL Sports Zone on Tuesday.
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Meanwhile, Blair's shot earned him a tip of the cap from DeChambeau, one of the most popular golfers on the planet, and a golfer who feels like he has something to prove at Oakmont after fading in the Masters in April and giving way to Rory McIlroy's big win.
Golf's second major, the PGA Championship, was easily won by Scottie Scheffler last month in a runaway at Quail Hollow Golf Club in North Carolina.
'He's a generational talent,' Blair said.
As for his own shot that was publicized by almost every major golf outlet and publication in the country Tuesday, Blair told Jeremiah Jensen and Alex Kirry that trying the putt was a spur-of-the-moment thing and not the way he plans on attacking massive Oakmont as one of the shortest hitters in the field.
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'I was out here playing with Bryson, and he hit a drive way down there, and I jokingly said, 'I feel like we could putt it from here,'' Blair said. 'Took the putter out, actually hit a pretty good one down there. It looked like it was going in for a while. Just kinda lucky that it all happened, or whatever. But it was pretty nice.'
Maybe the sudden fanfare and last week's performance at the Canadian Open will jumpstart a lackluster season to date for the former Fremont High and BYU golfer, who grew up in Ogden but now calls Orem home.
Blair had missed four-straight cuts and six of eight before tying for 52nd outside Toronto and earning $23,114 in prize money. His best finish in 2025 was a T18 in the Dominican Republic.
The son of local Utah golf legend Jimmy Blair said the putt from the fairway was 'not like an outrageous play at all' and noted that he might try it again in competition if the conditions are right.
'It was blowing downwind so hard, it was kind of like really tough to stop a ball (on the green),' he said. 'It was more about trying to see how far this would continue to roll. I didn't really hit it that hard. It was a pretty normal, long putt stroke. We all kind of walked down to the green saying, 'I don't think it is that outrageous of a play.''
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Of course, the U.S. Open is the most 'open' of all the majors because almost anybody has a chance to play in it via local and then sectional qualifying. Blair got in for the second straight year at the sectional in Springfield, Ohio, firing an 8-under 136 and then surviving a 4-for-1 playoff with a brilliant approach shot on the fourth playoff hole.
In last year's U.S. Open, the former Utah Open and Utah State Amateur champion tied for 40th at Pinehurst. He also played in the 2019 U.S. Open, missing the cut at Pebble Beach Golf Links in California.
Blair told the radio station that he expects 'guys kinda getting their teeth kicked in a little bit out here' at Oakmont this week. Dustin Johnson won with a 4-under 276 in 2016, overcoming a controversial one-stroke penalty to win by three shots.
'There are not a ton of places week-in and week-out that are like, omigosh, this is dead. How do I make bogey from here?' Blair said. 'You are going to see that on every single hole, basically, for four days out here.
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'I think the guys like it, especially if you are playing really good. You can separate yourself if you do the right stuff, or have a solid week, or have a solid game plan.'
Blair goes off No. 10 at 4:45 a.m. MDT on Thursday with Scott Vincent of Zimbabwe and Alistair Docherty of the United States.
Other U.S. Open golfers with Utah ties
Tony Finau points to the gallery on the first hole during the first round at the Masters golf tournament, Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. | Ashley Landis, Associated Press
The field will feature three golfers who were born in Utah and have won the Utah State Amateur — Blair, Salt Lake City's Tony Finau, and Farmington's Preston Summerhays.
Finau, a West High graduate who resides part-time in Lehi, will be playing in his 10th U.S. Open and 37th major. He goes off No. 1 at 11:58 a.m. MDT with Chris Kirk of the United States and Mackenzie Hughes of Canada.
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Finau missed the cut at the 2025 Masters and tied for 19th at the 2025 PGA Championship, fading late on Sunday. He tied for third at the U.S. Open last year at Pinehurst No. 2, rallying late with a 67 on Sunday.
Summerhays, 22, recently turned pro after competing collegiately for Arizona State the past four years and is the son of Finau's former swing coach, Boyd Summerhays.
Summerhays goes off No. 10 at 10:41 a.m. MDT with amateur Bryan Lee of the U.S. and pro Guido Migliozzi of Vicenza, Italy. The 2019 U.S. Junior Amateur champion will be playing in his third U.S. Open after earning medalist honors at the Valencia (California) Country Club with a 10-under total of 132.
Summerhays shot 73-73 (+6) at Los Angeles Country Club to miss the cut in 2023 and 72-77 (+9) at Winged Foot in 2020 to miss the cut.