Mike Weir hopes Black Desert Championship inspires new generation of Utah golfers; he is, too

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

IVINS — Mike Weir came to Utah in 1989 to play golf at BYU, and always kept a home even while navigating a pro career across the PGA Tour to the heights of the 2003 Masters championship.

Back then, he was part of a select few of Utah golfers, a fairly short list including the likes of Johnny Miller, Jay Don Blake and Billy Casper, et al., navigating life on tour with their love for the Beehive State.

The new Black Desert Championship, which teed off Thursday at the course designed by the late Tom Weiskopf for the PGA Tour's first visit to Utah in 61 years, will only help grow that list — and so will Weir.

The 54-year-old Canadian who currently calls Park City home shot 3-under-par 68 to finish tied for 42nd after Thursday's opening round at Black Desert Resort in Ivins.

"I think it just goes to show that it's a big golf state," Weir told reporters after his round. "I think with the young kids that watch, they watch the Zac Blairs and Pat Fishburns and all the young BYU kids that are out here and you're inspiring the next generation. I saw a bunch of them out here, a bunch of young kids out here. It's great for golf in this state.

"When this is all done here, it's going to be pretty phenomenal with all the golf courses they're going to build, and it's going to be pretty incredible down here."

Weir opened the first round as well as anyone, carding six birdies en route to 6-under 30 on the front nine before navigating trouble on the back. He opened that side of the course with back-to-back bogeys on the par-4 11th and 12th holes, then went 1-over each on the par-3 15th and par-3 17th holes before pulling back a birdie on the par-5, 577-yard 18th hole for his 68.

"It feels good to end like that, but I was a little disappointed with the back nine," he said. "Obviously, played tough with the wind out here, but I putted so well on the front nine, just missed some short ones on the front nine, but nice to finish like that."

Blair, a former Fremont High star and Utah state amateur champion who also played at BYU, also shot 3-under 68 in Thursday's opening round. Lone Peak senior Kihei Akina, playing in his first PGA Tour event on a sponsor exemption, was 2-under through 16 holes before play was suspended due to darkness.

They were the only Utahns above the projected cut line when play was suspended in the first round, which will finish Friday morning before second-round start.

Fishburn shot even-par 71 to lead the best of the rest, and Corner Canyon senior Bowen Mauss shot 2-over 73.

Former BYU golfer Peter Kuest shot 3-over 74 — matching the score of St. George native and former Utah State standout Jay Don Blake, who was 3-over through 15 in his 500th start on the PGA Tour.

BYU's Zac Jones was 6-over through 15, and Dustin Volk, the Davis County director of golf, was 9-over through 15.

Canadian golfer Adam Svensson shot a career-best 11-under 60 — making a 35-foot eagle putt that he thought he missed and closing with a birdie from the bunker — to top the leaderboard, two shots ahead of Sweden's Henrik Norlander and American Matt McCarty. Kevin Streelman and Sam Ryder each shot 7-under 64 to round out the top five.

"I thought it was going to go left and it went right and went in," Svensson said of his eagle on the par-5 seventh. "You've got to get a little bit lucky here and there. But overall I played very well."

It's the second straight week that a player has shot 60 on the PGA Tour in the FedEx Cup fall series. David Skinns missed a 10-foot putt that would've given him 59 at last week's Sanderson Farms Championship, according to the Associated Press.

"Fall is pretty incredible down here," Blair said of Ivins. "It doesn't get much better. It's a little unusually hot right now, which is better than cold, but I think this is a perfect kind of fall stop."

The first round will resume at 8 a.m. MDT Friday, with the second round set to resume shortly thereafter.

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Sean Walker

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KSL.com BYU and college sports reporter