Monday qualifiers: Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank
Farmington, UT (August 2, 2022) — Kevin Velo led the way at Monday qualifying for this week’s Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank, carding 9-under 63 at TalonsCove GC to secure a spot in this week’s field at Oakridge CC outside Salt Lake City.
Velo, 24, made nine birdies Monday and was without a bogey on the card. The San Jose State alum is coming off a sparkling campaign on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, where he won the Termas de Rio Hondo Invitational in late March en route to a fourth-place finish on the Order of Merit. By finishing inside the top-10 on the PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Order of Merit, he earns 2023 Korn Ferry Tour membership and a chance to better his status via Final Stage of Q-School in November.
The California native recorded five top-10s in 12 starts on the 2021-22 PGA TOUR Latinoamerica, and he notched four top-four finishes in his final five starts across May and June. The Utah Championship will mark Velo’s Korn Ferry Tour debut.
Four players carded 8-under 64 to advance into the Utah Championship field with one stroke to spare on a playoff – T.K. Kim, Hayden Springer, Brandon Lee and Austen Christiansen.
Kim successfully Monday qualified into the Utah Championship for the second consecutive year, having carded 61 at TalonsCove GC in 2021. The South Korea native, 31, proceeded to make the cut last year and finish T50; he will aim to channel those good vibes into an even better result this time around. The Boise State alum holds conditional status this season after finishing T135 at Final Stage of 2021 Q-School; this will mark his second Korn Ferry Tour start of 2022.
Springer will also compete in the Utah Championship for the second consecutive year; in 2021, he finished T6 at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper to earn a spot in Utah. The TCU alum, 25, is coming off a No. 21 finish on the 2021-22 PGA TOUR Latinoamerica Order of Merit, recording six top-25 finishes in 12 starts.
Josh McCarthy, David Timmins and Thadd Obecny II earned the final spots in this week’s field via a 6-for-3 playoff at 7-under 65. The odd men out were Andy Spencer, Taylor Koser and Zehao Liu.
This marked the final Monday qualifier of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season. The field for next week’s Regular Season-ending Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Aetna will be filled directly off the 2022 Regular Season Points List.
In all, 110 players competed for eight spots in the Utah Championship field.
For all scores from the Utah Championship qualifier, click here.