Ivins, Utah — Michael Brennan was just as dominant at Black Desert as he was on the PGA Tour Americas. He finished with a 5-under 66 to claim a four-shot victory at the Bank of Utah Championship on Sunday and become the PGA Tour winner from the sponsor exemption.
In his first PGA Tour appearance as a professional, Brennan became the first player to win with a sponsor exemption since Nick Dunlap played as an amateur on the American Express in January 2024.
With the win, Brennan, a 23-year-old star at Wake Forest, will skip next year’s Korn Ferry Tour and go straight to the major leagues. He earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour, a spot in the PGA Championship and the $20 million RBC Heritage.
Brennan was ranked 451st in the world after the South American portion of the PGA Tour Americas. But he was dominant in Canada (one win in Minnesota), winning three in four consecutive tournaments and finishing in the top 10 eight times in 10 games.
Winning the Fortinet Cup Season Points Race earned him a fully waived Korn Ferry Tour Card. Now he’s heading straight to the PGA Tour to compete against Scottie Scheffler and other top golfers.
“It feels great,” Brennan said. “Winning a golf tournament is one of the best feelings in the world. It takes a lot to play professional golf, but I have a great team behind me.”
It wasn’t the perfect end to an ideal week. He put his second shot into a deep pit of lava rock, took a smart penalty shot on an unplayable lie, and closed it out with a bogey. He finished with 22 under par, 262, four strokes behind Rico Hoey (67).
Brennan combined strength and calm at Black Desert Resort, a scenic Tom Weiskopf design surrounded by red rock cliffs and black lava.
Brennan, who started the final round with a three-shot lead, had three birdies in his first five holes to extend his lead to five shots, but was never seriously challenged.
After a two-stroke swing at No. 10, Hoey closed to within three strokes after Brennan hit a rare bogey and Hoey made birdie. But then Brennan hit a 411-yard drive on the greenside 12th hole for a pitch-and-putt birdie. Then he drove the par-4 14th green with a 3-wood and made a two-putt birdie to keep everyone at bay.
Winning the FedEx Cup fall schedule no longer earns an invitation to the Masters, but Brennan is now within striking distance. That incredible summer in Canada and Sunday’s win put him just inside the top 50 in the world.
He can play in the three PGA Tour events remaining on the schedule. At the end of the year, the top 50 athletes in the world will compete at Augusta National.
Hoey’s chances were all but over when he missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 13th to get within two strokes, and then a 10-foot birdie chance on the 14th to get within four strokes. Still, he rose from 91st to 61st in the FedEx Cup and earned his 2026 card.
Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen, 68, and defending champion Matt McCarty, 70, were in a large group tied for third at 16-under 268. Olesen has now moved up 19 places to 97th place and aims to maintain full status next year.
Brennan said that during a hot summer run, his caddy, Jeff Kirkpatrick, told him he was going to bypass the Korn Ferry Tour and go straight to the PGA Tour.
“I can’t believe what he’s saying,” Brennan said with a laugh.