The PGA Tour moves from Mississippi to Utah for the inaugural Black Desert Championship.
As is the case for most of the FedEx Fall Series events, the field will have no real headliner but instead a mix of young up-and-comers and veterans trying to secure more points to improve their position for 2025.
Familiar names teeing it up at Black Desert Resort will include Patton Kizzire, Daniel Berger, Lucas Glover, Keith Mitchell, Nick Taylor, Chris Kirk, Harris English, and 65-year-old Utah native Jay Don Blake, who’s playing on a sponsor exemption.
As we do each week, here’s a rundown of facts and figures to get you prepped for an exciting week of golf in Utah.
The Skinny
Tournament: Black Desert Championship
Tour Season Debut: 2025
Event Type: Fall Series (3 of 8)
Dates: Oct 10-13, 2024
Where: Ivins, Utah
Course: Black Desert Resort
Distance: Par 71 (36-35), 7371 yards
Architect: Tom Weiskopf/Phil Smith (2022-2023)
Field: 132 players, 36-hole cut
Purse: $7,500,000
Winning Share: $1,350,000
FedExCup/OWGR Points: 500/29
How to Follow the Black Desert Championship
TELEVISION: Thu-Sun: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. (GOLF)
PGA TOUR LIVE: Thu-Fri: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. (ESPN+)
PGA TOUR RADIO: Thu-Fri: 2-8 p.m.; Sat-Sun: 3-8 p.m.
(PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM)
LINKS: Website | Instagram | Facebook | X/Twitter
The Course: Black Desert Resort
The PGA Tour makes its long-awaited return to Utah for the first time in 60 years with this week’s Black Desert Championship, contested on the aptly titled Black Desert Resort.
Situated in the southwest corner of Utah, Black Desert is the only place in the U.S. where three major ecosystems converge: the Mojave Desert, the Colorado Plateau and the Great Basin.
Designed by Phil Smith and the late Tom Weiskopf in 2022-23, the primo layout was carved out of black lava, which borders every fairway, and offers breathtaking vistas of Snow Canyon State Park.
Before he passed away, Weiskopf said, “It’s one of the most beautiful vistas and places that you could ever just stand there and (do) a 360 turnaround and look at all these beautiful mountains.”
Co-designer Smith added, “It’s off-the-charts cool.”
The course boasts wide fairways with just two water hazards in play.
Course Skinny
Name: Black Desert Resort
Locale: Ivins, Utah
Established: 2023
Type: Public/Resort
Holes: 18
Par: 71 (36-35)
Par 3s: 4 (3, 8, 15, 17)
Par 4s: 11 (1-2, 4-6, 10-14, 16)
Par 5s: 3 (7, 9, 18)
Length: 7371 yards
Greens: Bentgrass
Designed by: Tom Weiskopf/Phil Smith
Web: BlackDesertResort.com
Source: PGA TOUR
The Field
Familiar names teeing it up at Black Desert Resort will include the Fall Series two winners in Patton Kizzire (Procore) and Kevin Yu (Sanderson Farms).
They will be joined by several marquee names, including Daniel Berger, Kevin Kisner, Lucas Glover, Keith Mitchell, Patrick Rodgers, Beau Hossler, Emiliano Grillo, Nick Taylor, Chris Kirk, Harris English, and 65-year-old Utah native Jay Don Blake, who’s playing on a sponsor exemption.
Other names to watch: Michael Thorbjornsen, Kurt Kitayama, Patrick Fishburn, Seamus Power, Erik Van Rooyen, and Ben Griffin, among others.
Top-5 Betting Favorites
Pos-Player(Odds)
1. Keith Mitchell (20-1)
2. Patrick Fishburn (22-1)
2. Seamus Power (22-1)
4. Beau Hossler (28-1)
4. Kurt Kitayama (28-1)
Full Field & Odds
Field: How They Qualified
Monday Qualifiers
Chandler Blanchet
Chris Korte
John Sand
David Bradshaw
Winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Memorial Tournament or The Genesis Invitational (three-year exemption )
Kurt Kitayama
PGA Tour tournament winner (two-year exemption)
Daniel Berger
Ryan Brehm
Cameron Champ
Nico Echavarria
Harris English
Brice Garnett
Lucas Glover
Emiliano Grillo
Harry Hall
Nick Hardy
Lee Hodges
Stephan Jaeger
Chris Kirk
Kevin Kisner
Patton Kizzire
K.H. Lee
Luke List
Peter Malnati
Trey Mullinax
Seamus Power
Chad Ramey
Chez Reavie
J.J. Spaun
Adam Svensson
Nick Taylor
Erik van Rooyen
Camilo Villegas
Sponsor exemption (DP World Tour/Korn Ferry Tour/Q-School category)
Bowen Mauss
Max McGreevy
Sponsor exemption (PGA Tour member not otherwise exempt)
Mike Weir
S.Y. Noh
Sean O’Hair
Sponsor exemption (unrestricted)
Kihei Akina
Jay Don Blake
Zac Jones
Peter Kuest
PGA Section Champion/Player of the Year
Dustin Volk
Top 70 on prior year’s FedExCup Playoffs & Eligibility Points List
Patrick Rodgers
Taylor Montgomery
Alex Smalley
Brandon Wu
Beau Hossler
Hayden Buckley
Sam Ryder
Ben Griffin
Keith Mitchell
Mark Hubbard
Matthew NeSmith
Top 125 on prior year’s FedExCup Fall Playoffs & Eligibility Points List
S.H. Kim
Justin Suh
Joel Dahmen
Tyler Duncan
Michael Kim
Ben Taylor
Garrick Higgo
Robby Shelton
Callum Tarren
Dylan Wu
Nate Lashley
Greyson Sigg
Will Gordon
David Lipsky
Justin Lower
Carson Young
Tyson Alexander
Kevin Streelman
Chesson Hadley
Zac Blair
Aaron Baddeley
Joseph Bramlett
Kevin Yu
Martin Laird
Ryan Moore
Matti Schmid
Andrew Novak
Doug Ghim
Troy Merritt
Carl Yuan
Major medical extension
C.T. Pan
Vince Whaley
Bud Cauley
J.B. Holmes
Leading points winner from Korn Ferry Tour
Ben Kohles
Players 2-30 from prior year’s Korn Ferry Tour Points List, Top 10 from prior year’s DP World Tour and top five and ties from PGA Tour Q-School presented by Korn Ferry
Ryo Hisatsune
Mac Meissner
Chan Kim
Chandler Phillips
Sami Valimaki
Richard Hoey
Patrick Fishburn
Ryan Fox
David Skinns
Pierceson Coody
Jacob Bridgeman
Hayden Springer
Alejandro Tosti
Trace Crowe
Michael Thorbjornsen
Rafael Campos
Joe Highsmith
Parker Coody
Adrien Dumont de Chassart
Alexander Björk
Ryan McCormick
Roger Sloan
Paul Barjon
Tom Whitney
Kevin Dougherty
Norman Xiong
William Furr
Nicholas Lindheim
Blaine Hale, Jr.
Scott Gutschewski
Raul Pereda
Josh Teater
Anders Albertson
Tim Wilkinson
Philip Knowles
Three-Victory Promotion from Korn Ferry Tour
Matt McCarty
Reshuffle within categories 37-44
Kevin Tway
Erik Barnes
Martin Trainer
Henrik Norlander
Wesley Bryan
Kevin Chappell
Lanto Griffin
S.Y. Noh
Kelly Kraft
Austin Cook
