ST. GEORGE, UTAH- Black Desert Golf Course was a little less crowded on Friday after around 60 golfers were sent packing after the cut. The line, which fell at -5, was still up in the air when the players woke up on Saturday. Eight groups resumed Friday's play early on Saturday morning, where some completed a miracle finish to stay alive and others had their hopes of a weekend run dashed.
A handful of golfers had to sweat out the cut line overnight -- namely, Dylan Wu and Wesley Bryan. Each had putts to make the cut when play was suspended due to darkness and both chose to sleep it over, getting in some mental reps before making their attempts. The scenario was simple for both golfers, make the putt, make the cut.
For Wu, it was a four-foot putt for par on the 9th to preserve his -5 score. He was able to whether the pressure, sinking the putt, and surviving for the weekend.
Bryan's situation was a bit more spectacular. As he stood on the tee box at the par 5 18th with a score of -3, he knew he had to push the envelope to even give himself a chance. He did exactly that, reaching the green in two, leaving himself a 14-foot eagle put. Early morning, before play resumed, Wesley was on the practice green, a move that would prove to be vital. Just before 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning, Bryan returned to the 18th green, placing his ball, and draining the long putt to jump 57 spots on the leaderboard to stay a little longer in St. George.
In just his third start on tour, Matt McCarty posted a 64 during Saturday's action to move into sole possession of first place entering Championship Sunday. McCarty's round featured seven birdies, topped off by an eagle on the 7th, making a 29-foot put.
When Stephan Jaeger birdied five of his last seven holes to finish -14, the cut line shifted to -5. Kihei Akina, who sat at -4 with hopes of the line shifting back with continued second-round action was disappointed at the conclusion of play when the line stayed.
The cut line becoming official on Saturday morning meant that there was only one Utah local left in the field, Zac Blair. He and his group teed off at 11:25 a.m. Blair weathered some highs and lows throughout his round with two bogeys and a double bogey, which were erased by five birdies. Despite the inconsistency, Blair finished his round -1, sitting at -6 for the week. Zac Blair will enter Sunday tied for 59th, 13 shots back of the lead.
Zac Blair is paired with S.H. Kim and will tee off from the final round of the Black Desert Championship at 8:20 a.m. AM. Tune into Golf Channel from 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. MT for coverage of the final round at the Black Desert Championship.