- Kihei Akina leads the Utah Open after carding a 7-under-par 65 Saturday.
- Akina, an incoming BYU freshman, impresses with six birdies and an eagle.
- Top amateurs dominate, with three of the top four spots held by non-professionals.
PROVO — Kihei Akina wanted to give his family a reason to celebrate before he began the transition away from summer golf and into his freshman season at BYU.
Through two-thirds of the Larry H. Miller Utah Open, the Akina family has just that.
The former top-rated junior golfer in the country carded 7-under-par 65 for Saturday's low round, vaulting to the top of the leaderboard after 36 holes over a field of local teaching pros, mini-tour golfers, and top collegiate players.
But for Akina, his mind was on family, including his father, Alan, who walked his round alongside BYU coach Bruce Brockbank.
Moments after his grandparents arrived while he was on the first hole, the teenager carded six birdies to go along with an eagle on the par-4, 396-yard second hole that moved him to 3-under early in the round.
"I don't get to see them very much on the golf course — and I started out pretty good with a birdie, and then holed out from around 60 yards on No. 2," Akina said. "So that was cool for them to see."
The fast start of his front nine 32 continued when Akina carded three birdies in a four-hole span capped by a 3 on the par-4, 378-yard 16th hole to enter the clubhouse after the morning flight atop the leaderboard.
After shooting 66 in Friday's opening round, Akina used his fast start and a strong short game to vault into contention among a field of professionals and some of the top amateur golfers in the region.
"One way to be great at golf is to be pin-high all the time, so I'm always striving to do that," he deadpanned. "It's a little bit of an adjustment, coming from the Olympic Club in San Francisco. The ball goes really short there, so you are always adjusting to elevation."
After Sunday's final round, Akina is signed up to play in next week's Governor's Cup, the annual Ryder Cup-style team event pitting Utah's top amateurs against top pros in the state at TalonsCove Golf Course.
Then it's off to the semester at BYU, where the freshman starts classes Sept. 3 to put a cap on a summer where he played around the country, including last week's U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, in addition to local events like the Utah state amateur championship and Utah Championship in the Korn Ferry Tour's return to Ogden Golf and Country Club.
"It was a little bit more than what I'm used to," Akina exhaled. "I wasn't here in Utah for what felt like forever. I was on the road a lot this summer, but it was fun to see different places and play different courses."
Akina was joined in his morning pairing by soon-to-be BYU teammate Tyson Shelley, the former Skyline High standout who shot even-par 72, and Arizona State rising freshman Bowen Mauss, the recent Corner Canyon graduate and reigning Utah state amateur champion who carded his second-straight round at 3-under 69.
Cole Ogden, the former BYU golfer who likes to joke that he only plays twice a year, shot 5-under 67 to finish just one shot behind Akina.
Three of the top-four golfers on the leaderboard are amateurs, with BYU rising senior and first-day leader Simon Kwon with a two-day total of 10-under 134. Crimson Cliffs' Boston Bracken, who has committed to Arizona State, was also in a three-way tie for fifth at 9-under.
In between was former Utah Valley golfer Brady McKinlay, the Lacombe, Alberta native who lives in St. George with his newlywed wife — former UVU and Utah junior golf standout Caylyn Ponich, who was recently named head coach at Southern Utah.
"The first three holes, I could've been 3-under and was even," said McKinlay, who plays on the PGA Tour Americas. "I walked out and said, I've got to make some birdies."
The Canadian international carded seven birdies with an eagle, but also had two bogeys and a double bogey on the par-4 eighth hole in the middle of his round. Clean those up, and McKinlay should find himself squarely in contention during Sunday's finale.
"I think I've given myself a lot of opportunities off the tee and hitting some good iron shots," he said. "I'm just not getting close enough to make those birdie putts easy.
"I just need to get myself in that 10-foot zone as much as possible, and that will be the key tomorrow."
The top 60 golfers (plus ties) made the cut for Sunday's final round.
Larry H. Miller Utah Open
Riverside Country Club, Provo
Top 10
- 131 — Kihei Akina (a)
- 132 — Cole Ogden (a)
- 133 — Brady McKinlay
- 134 — Simon Kwon (a)
- 135 — Boston Bracken (a), Kirby Coe-Kirkham, Spencer Wallace
- 136 — Blake Tomlinson, Jhared Hack
- 137 — Carson Lundell, Zach Johnson, Steve Schneiter, Brandon Robison (a), Zac Jones
Full leaderboard available at utahsectionpga.com.
