Washington golfer hopes to follow brother's example on Web.com Tour's Utah stop


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LEHI — Andrew Putnam had never been to Thanksgiving Point Golf Club, yet alone the Utah Championship on the Web.com Tour.

But the Putnam family has a little bit of history on the Wasatch Front: Andrew's brother Michael won the event in 2010.

And Andrew Putnam put himself in position to live up to the family legacy Friday afternoon, staying in the race of becoming the first brothers to win the same event in Web.com Tour history.

Putnam carded a 4-under-par 67, tied for the second-lowest round of the day, to finish with a two-round total of 133, tied for second place going into the weekend at the PGA Tour’s only official stop in Utah.

“I love where I’m at,” Putnam said. “When the wind is up, this course is challenging. It’s my first year here, so I didn’t know exactly what to expect with the scores. But I feel like if I shoot a few under, I have a pretty good chance.”

He did all that without help from his brother. The latest phone call Putnam received from Michael was to ask him how to use a training tool. The two play out of the same club in Tacoma, Washington, and they’ll bunk together at next week’s tour event in San Francisco.

Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Photo: Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

But for now, he’s on his own — not that it’s a bad thing.

After shooting 66 on Thursday, Putnam — who teed off on the No. 10 — was even-par through 10 following his second bogey of the day on the first tee. Then magic happened.

Putnam smacked his tee shot down the side of the fairway, angling it perfectly into the wind on the par-5, 583-yard second hole. The ball landed in the primary rough, but when the former Pepperdine golfer went to punch it out, the ball carried just past the pin in the front of the green and trickled into the hole for an eagle.

“The pin was on the front, and there was a pole behind it, so it’s a perfect pin for getting it close,” Putnam said. “It spun straight back into the hole. It was pretty cool when we saw it go in.”

The eagle changed the tone of his round. Putnam went under par on two of the next three holes, stroking birdies on No. 3 and No. 5 and finished just one shot off Brian Richey’s two-day lead.

“I was playing fine, but had two sloppy bogeys with a couple of good shots,” Putnam said. “It helped me get back in the mode and feeling good again.”

After qualifying Monday and packing up for Utah, Richey carded a co-leading 64 Thursday before carding four birdies with just one bogey on the front nine en route to a 68 and the outright lead.

“You’re not leading until the tournament is over,” said Richey, who shot even-par with a bogey on No. 18 on the back. “You still got to play golf and do your thing.”

Friday's results
Utah Championship at Thanksgiving Point Golf Club
Top 10
Brian Richey 64-68 — 132
Nicholas Lindheim 67-66 — 133
Andrew Putnam 66-67 — 133
John Rollins 66-68 — 134
Bill Lunde 69-66 — 135
Trey Mullinax 66-69 — 135
Ollie Schniederjans 66-69 — 135
Alex Prugh 66-69 — 135
Marc Turnesa 67-69 — 136
J.J. Spain 68-68 — 136
Adam Svensson 67-69 — 136
Charlie Danielson 67-69 — 136
Rick Lamb 66-70 — 136

Nicholas Lindheim shot 66 to climb 13 spots on the leaderboard and tie for second with Putnam. John Rollins is third with a two-day 134 through 36 holes.

No local golfer survived the cut Friday, which was placed at 2-under 140. Park City’s Steele Dewald led the local scores on the day with 71, missing the line by five strokes. B.J. Staten shot 72 for a two-day 144, and Jordan Rodgers carded a 74 to finish at 149.

Play continues Saturday at 10 a.m. MDT on NBC’s Golf Channel.

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Sean Walker

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