Four Players 25 or Under Go Bogey-Free at Bank of Utah Championship

Johnny Keefer, Ben James, David Ford and amateur Kihei Akina all carded clean third rounds at Black Desert Resort to climb into the top 20 behind leaders Austin Smotherman and Doug Ghim.

The third round of the 2026 Bank of Utah Championship belonged to golf's next wave. While veterans Austin Smotherman and Doug Ghim occupy the top spots at Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah, four players aged 25 or younger — Johnny Keefer, Ben James, David Ford and Kihei Akina — each got around Saturday's course without dropping a shot and finished the day inside the top 20.

Akina, 20, is the only amateur among them. The BYU sophomore represented the United States at last month's Walker Cup and opened in the desert with consecutive 67s. Saturday began with four straight pars before a birdie at the par-4 14th; he then covered four of five holes with birdies midway through his closing nine. He credited solid approach play for giving him, in his words, 'a lot of looks,' and said the putts he rolled in at the fifth, sixth and seventh helped him finish strong.

Keefer, the senior member of the quartet at 25, got a boost from an eagle at the seventh hole and signed for a 9-under 62. It was his second 62 in as many starts and matched the career-low score he recorded just two weeks ago in the third round of the Biltmore Championship. The Baylor graduate, who topped the 2025 Korn Ferry Tour points list, starts Sunday tied for sixth at 17 under, six strokes behind Smotherman's 23-under total. He told reporters his game has been 'trending' well, that more putts dropped for him Saturday after two steady days off the tee, and that he intends to 'go out and hunt' the two veterans ahead of him.

James, a 23-year-old rookie out of Virginia, birdied the par-5 18th — the longest hole on the course — to reach 18 under and a share of third with Trace Crowe and Kevin Streelman. The closing birdie capped a 7-under 64 that followed scores of 65 and 66. Since making his first start at the RBC Canadian Open in June, the former Cavalier has three top-five results, including a runner-up finish at the Biltmore secured with a closing 61. He told Golf Channel he hit nearly every fairway, tidied up around the greens, avoided careless errors and converted a number of putts from inside eight feet.

Ford, a 24-year-old UNC product, matched the 65 he shot on Thursday and shares ninth place with three others. That opening round consisted of five birdies, an eagle and a single bogey. Earlier in the year he placed inside the top 20 at both the American Express and the Puerto Rico Open, then took five months away from competition between the Valero Texas Open in April and the Biltmore, the event that kicked off the tour's fall calendar.

Jackson Koivun could not join the low-scoring group. The 21-year-old Auburn standout, fresh off helping the United States win the Presidents Cup at Medinah, needed a birdie at his final hole Friday — one of three over his last five — to make the cut on the number at 6 under. On Saturday he birdied three of his final five holes on his first nine but gave strokes back at the second and eighth, settling for a 2-under 70 that left him tied for 61st at 7 under.

The championship concludes Sunday at Black Desert Resort. Smotherman holds the 23-under lead, with Ghim alongside him at the top, while James begins five shots back at 18 under. James said he has 'nothing to lose' in the final round: play his best, choose smart shots and see whether the putts fall — and if they don't, move on to the next event.