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It’s rare for a PGA Tour professional to wake up and then warm up to hit just one shot, but that’s exactly what Wesley Bryan had to do Saturday morning at Black Desert Championship.
And the former PGA Tour winner didn’t disappoint — both himself and the Utah fans who showed up to see him.
Bryan was one of 19 players still on the golf course Friday evening when second-round play at the inaugural Black Desert Championship was suspended due to darkness. The 2017 RBC Heritage winner was on the green at the par-5 18th in two.
When the horn sounded at 7:07 p.m. local time, Bryan opted to return on Saturday to hit his 14-foot eagle putt while the rest of his group completed the second round.
Why? Because that eagle shot would be the difference between Bryan making the cut and earning a check this week or not.
When play was suspended Friday night, Bryan was three under for the week, tied for 76 and two shots outside the projected five-under mark. The par-5 final Eagling was Bryan’s only chance to play the weekend after a bogey-free rally on Friday that followed a one-over 72 in Round 1.
Not only would Bryan not make a check this week if he missed the eagle attempt, but he also wouldn’t earn any FedEx Cup fall points, which are valuable to someone outside the Top 125 in the points standings like Bryan in the 138th place.
So Bryan showed up before sunrise at 7:40 a.m. in Black Desert and headed straight for the green, knowing that if he missed his eagle putt, he wouldn’t have to make any. swing.
When play resumed at 8:15 a.m., Bryan stepped up to the putt and drained it13 hours after he hit his second shot, to the delight of several dozen Utah fans who stood up to watch.
“Utah was loud!” Bryan told the PGA Tour social media team afterward. “I didn’t realize there was such a Bryan Bros. case here. Shoot, even at 8:15 this morning there were a lot of them piled up on the green.”
Bryan pumped his fist in the air and then turned to a crowd of people to the right of the green and threw his hat in their direction. After sharing a hug with his caddy, who took the ball out of the hole for his boss, Bryan turned around and tossed the ball to the fans for a souvenir.
“For him to come in and give them some golf this afternoon, it was a lot of fun,” Bryan said.