This Korn Ferry Tour golfer made history at the 35th Utah Championship

OGDEN — At 120th on the Korn Ferry Tour’s points list entering the Utah Championship, Chris Francoeur was looking at something strong, and perhaps even historic, to finish on the weekend.

He got it Friday.

Francoeur carded the first 59 of the season on the U.S.-based developmental circuit of the PGA Tour, setting a course record at Ogden Golf and Country Club and tying the tournament record set in 2013 at the Utah Championship when it was played at Willow Creek Country Club in Sandy.

The 27-year-old Massachusetts native was sizzling as temperatures approached 100 degrees in the northern Utah outpost. After teeing off on No. 10, he totaled nine birdies including six for a front-nine 29 before a run of three-straight holes under par that included an eagle on the par-4, 318-yard fourth hole.

At that point, he figured he had something special.

“I tried not to think about it — but I thought about it,” Francoeur said after the round. “I was doing the math in my head, how if I par on a par-70, that’s 59. But I tried to stay in my process, and keep it one shot at a time.

“I’m happy to get it done.”

Chris Francoeur sets course record at Utah Championship

Francoeur, who played college golf at Rhode Island and Louisville entered the tournament with conditional status, ranked 120th on the KFT points list before carding the first sub-60 round of the season to move up 7 spots to the top of the leaderboard.

Mr. 59 🔥

Chris Francoeur breaks the course record, cards the first @KornFerryTour 59 of the season, and ties the tournament record set in 2013. pic.twitter.com/SdD6L3F7ck

— Utah Championship (@UTChampionship) July 31, 2026

The fourth-year pro has scored low before; this is the third time he’s shot in the 50s this year, he said.

But Friday’s round was the biggest — and perhaps most impactful — red number of his career. He shot 58 back in 2022, but that was a round with some friends the day after flying home after missing the second stage of qualifying school.

Last summer, he fired 59 that included an albatross on No. 18 — a moment that is still pinned on his Instagram profile.

Friday likely topped them both.

“You never really go into a round thinking you’re going to shoot a score like that,” he said. “I think I made the turn at 6-under, and I felt good; it was nice out there, no wind, and it was soft this morning.

“I just kept it going. There have been a lot of rounds this season where I’ve been going low but haven’t kept it going. It was nice to keep it going today.”

It’s the third time in eight days a player on a PGA Tour-sanctioned event has reached the number.

Michael Kim shot 59 last Friday at the 3M Open near Minneapolis, Minnesota. The day prior, Scott Stevens shot 11-under 59 in the opening round of the Osprey Valley Open on the PGA Tour Americas in Canada.

Former BYU golfer Patrick Fishburn shot 59 at six years ago at Ogden Golf and Country Club, which was the previous course record in a non-competitive round.

Patrick Fishburn out front at PGA Tour’s Rocket Classic

Speaking of Fishburn, the Ogden native shot 4-under 66 to surge into contention at the Rocket Classic in Detroit. Fishburn carded three birdies on the back nine to finish tied for first with Cameron Young and Patrick Cantlay.

Fellow BYU alum Zac Blair also shot 66 to finish at 5-under, tied for 32nd with a group that included Rose Park native Tony Finau to make the cut by two strokes.

The first 59 of the Korn Ferry Tour season!

Massachusetts native Chris Francoeur joins the history books @UTChampionship.

📺 Golf Channel at 6 p.m. ET pic.twitter.com/3PyXnsdh8k

— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) July 31, 2026