Austin Smotherman leads at 23 under, a shot clear of Doug Ghim, after three rounds of the Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort. The draw has barely mattered: the two halves of the field are within 0.2 of a stroke of each other over Thursday and Friday, inside the noise, so the leaderboard stands.
Adjusted standings · after round 3
| # | Player | Raw | Adj | Round by round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin Smotherman | −23 | −22.9 | |
| 2 | Doug Ghim | −22 | −22.1 | |
| T3 | Trace Crowe | −18 | −18.1 | |
| T3 | Ben James | −18 | −18.1 | |
| T3 | Kevin Streelman | −18 | −17.9 | |
| T6 | Stephan Jaeger | −17 | −17.1 | |
| T6 | Steven Fisk | −17 | −17.1 | |
| T6 | Johnny Keefer | −17 | −17.1 | |
| T9 | David Ford | −16 | −16.1 | |
| T9 | Neal Shipley | −16 | −16.1 | |
| T9 | Chris Kirk | −16 | −15.9 | |
| T9 | A.J. Ewart | −16 | −15.9 | |
| T13 | Rico Hoey | −15 | −15.1 | |
| T13 | Kristoffer Ventura | −15 | −14.9 | |
| T13 | Gordon Sargent | −15 | −14.9 | |
| T16 | David Lipsky | −14 | −14.1 | |
| T16 | John VanDerLaan | −14 | −14.1 | |
| T16 | Kihei Akina | −14 | −14.1 | |
| T16 | Ben Kohles | −14 | −13.9 | |
| T16 | Kevin Roy | −14 | −13.9 |
Adjusted: each Thursday and Friday round scored against the players in the same wave that day, then put back on the day's average. Weekend rounds count as played. The waves played within 0.2 of a stroke this week, so the order is the board's; tenths separating tied players are noise. Raw is the official board.
How the leaders are doing it
Strokes gained on the field over three rounds, split by where they came from. The four parts add up to the total; off the tee counts par 4s and par 5s only.
| Position | Player | Score | Total | Off the tee | Approach | Around the green | Putting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin Smotherman | -23 | +14.3 | +3.2 | +4.2 | +1.4 | +5.5 |
| 2 | Doug Ghim | -22 | +13.3 | +4.7 | +1.4 | +1.9 | +5.2 |
| T3 | Trace Crowe | -18 | +9.3 | -0.9 | +7.0 | 0.0 | +3.2 |
| T3 | Ben James | -18 | +9.3 | +1.2 | +1.6 | +4.0 | +2.5 |
| T3 | Kevin Streelman | -18 | +9.3 | -0.8 | +3.5 | +1.2 | +5.4 |
| T6 | Stephan Jaeger | -17 | +8.3 | -1.2 | +5.2 | +3.8 | +0.5 |
| T6 | Steven Fisk | -17 | +8.3 | +3.5 | +2.4 | +0.1 | +2.2 |
| T6 | Johnny Keefer | -17 | +8.3 | +4.6 | +1.9 | +1.3 | +0.5 |
Austin Smotherman has gained 14.3 strokes on the field, 5.5 of them on the greens. Doug Ghim's 13.3 is built the same way, 5.2 on the greens. Trace Crowe's 9.3 leans most on approach play: 7.0. Of the four, putting carries over least from one round to the next, so a score built on it is the most likely to fade: 58% of Kevin Streelman's gain has come on the greens. Austin Smotherman has gained the most from tee to green, 7.4 strokes off the tee and on approach: the more repeatable half of the game.
How the waves played
Field average to par by wave, with the number of players in brackets:
| Round | Morning wave | Afternoon wave | Afternoon minus morning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1, Thursday | -2.82 (60) | -3.10 (59) | -0.29 |
| Round 2, Friday | -3.02 (59) | -3.08 (59) | -0.07 |
A positive gap means the afternoon played harder. With about 59 players in each wave, a wave's average is uncertain by about 0.4 of a stroke, so gaps smaller than that are not worth reading. The two halves of the draw are 0.2 of a stroke apart so far, which is inside that.
Round 3 in numbers
The field averaged -2.83 to par in round 3. Hole 13 (par 4) played hardest in round 3, averaging 4.20, with 24% of the field making bogey or worse. Hole 14 (par 4) was the easiest, averaging 3.37, with 67% making birdie or better. The low round of the day was Johnny Keefer's 62 (-9).
Round 3 was played in almost no wind (3 mph). The simulation below replays hole 13 at that round's pins and firmness; drag the wind to see what it does to the hole.
Scenario · Black Desert Resort
Hole 13, par 4, 506 yards
at 3 mph, round 3's wind
How this is calculated
Each Thursday and Friday round is compared with the average score of the players who went out in the same wave that day, then put back on the day's average, so the adjusted figure reads like a score to par. That removes the weather and the course setup each wave faced. Weekend rounds go off in score order, which puts the best players together late in the day, so splitting them by tee time would mix skill in with the conditions; they count as played. Scores come from the official hole-by-hole scoring. Only players with every round complete are ranked.
PropGolf models every hole from shot-level tracking data. Try it on any player or hole with the scenario engine, free and no account needed.
For live hole-by-hole prices during a tournament, see the live board.