SOUTH OGDEN — Perhaps the person most surprised that Derek Hitchner won the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship on Sunday at Ogden Golf & Country Club was Hitchner himself.
“I’ve been floundering all year,” the 26-year-old from Minnesota said on the 18th green after winning a five-way playoff on the first playoff hole with a 6-foot birdie putt. “This is kind of a surprise, and a huge blessing.”
It was the first tournament win as a professional for Hitchner, a Pepperdine graduate who turned pro in 2023.
“This is as good as it gets,” he said.
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Derek Hitchner watches his ball fly down the fairway during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner drives the ball during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Cole Hammer waves to the crowd during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Lea Hitchner, right, cries tears of joy after her husband, Derek Hitchner, wins the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner poses for a photo after winning the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner poses for a photo after winning the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner putts during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner poses for a photo with his wife, Lea Hitchner, after winning the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner and his caddie make their way down the fairway as spectators pass by during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Jackson Van Paris looks back toward his caddie in disbelief after a narrow miss during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Travis Trace analyzes the green during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Travis Trace drives the ball during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner analyzes the green during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Mason Anderson watches his ball narrowly miss the hole during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner reacts to his narrow miss during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf & Country Club on Sunday, Aug. 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Blades Brown chips the ball onto the green during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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A spectator rests in the grass as he waits for Derek Hitchner and Blades Brown to make their way to the green during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Spectators watch as Derek Hitchner putts during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Children line up for Jackson Van Paris’s autograph during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Blades Brown watches his ball fly down the fairway during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Blades Brown and his caddie go over their yardage books during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Chris Francoeur chips onto the green during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner’s caddie holds the flag while he putts during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Blades Brown hits from the fairway during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner putts the ball during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Blades Brown’s bag sits beside the green during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Blades Brown and his caddie discuss a shot during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Blades Brown takes a shot during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Blades Brown shades himself with a towel during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Kevin Dougherty drives the ball during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Blades Brown closes his glove during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Blades Brown Chips out of a bunker during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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A boy takes refuge in the shade during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner checks his yardage book during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Jackson Van Paris fixes a divot on the green during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Carson Young analyzes his line during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Cole Hammer and his caddie make their way to the green during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Jeremy Gandon receives a clean ball from his caddie during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Spectators line up to watch golfers make it to the 18th hole during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Mason Anderson lowers his head after a tough miss during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Blades Brown analyzes the green during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Cole Hammer places his ball down during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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A ball lands and rolls to a stop during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner takes an interview during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner, left, poses for a photo with his trophy during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News 
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Derek Hitchner, center, poses for a photo with his trophy during the final round of the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at the Ogden Golf and Country Club on Sunday, August 2, 2026. | Lukas Katilius, Deseret News
The five-man playoff tied for the largest playoff field in Korn Ferry Tour history. After Hitchner and four others — Tommy Morrison, Cole Hammer, Mason Anderson and Travis Trace — tied at 21-under through 72 holes in blistering hot conditions in South Ogden, the fivesome headed out to the 18th tee in the sudden-death playoff.
All five golfers hit the green with their approach shots, and the 6-foot-8 Morrison appeared to be in control because he was only about four feet away from the hole.
After Hammer, Anderson and Trace missed their birdie putts, Hitchner rolled his in, then watched in disbelief as Morrison missed. A day after his wife’s birthday, Hitchner earned $180,000 for his efforts, and makes a huge jump on the KFT points list after starting the tournament ranked No. 136.
Fan favorite Blades Brown, the 19-year-old from Tennessee who turned down multiple college scholarship offers to turn professional in January of 2025, almost got into the playoff — a six-man playoff would have broken the tour record — but just missed a 12-footer from the fringe on No. 18.
Brown, Ross Steelman and Jackson Van Paris tied for sixth at -20, while Chad Sewell, Filip Jakubcik, Jeremy Gandon, Ian Holt, Chris Francoeur and Brandon Berry tied for ninth.
Steelman shot Sunday’s best round, a 62, while Francoeur faded a bit on the weekend after firing a course-record 59 on Friday.
A recent Vanderbilt graduate, Van Paris was 8-under through 12 holes of his fourth round to get to -21 for the tournament and into the lead, but hit his tee shot into water on No. 13 and made a double bogey on arguably the easiest par-4 on the course.
That mistake arguably cost the 22-year-old tour rookie the title.
Despite missing the playoff by a shot in temperatures hovering around 100 degrees, Brown hung around the clubhouse long after his round ended to sign autographs and take pictures with dozens of adoring fans, most of them youngsters.
As for Hitchner, who started the day tied with Brown for the lead at 18-under, he thought he blew his chance with a bogey on the relatively easy par-5 15th hole, but he rolled in a 5-footer for birdie on No. 17 to get back in it.
He almost won it with his birdie on No. 18 in regulation, but left a 15-foot putt inches short after backing off it to re-examine his line.
“Well, the (playoff) putt was a little bit closer, so that was helpful, obviously,” he said. “But yeah, I knew I had to make it. It feels good to win it with a birdie.”
Hitchner said he has “no idea” what the victory will do for his career, but said it goes to show that hard work does pay off.
“I have been working as hard as I can to try to get better, and the results have not reflected that,” he said. “I am just truly grateful.”
Daniel Summerhays ties for 50th
Golfers with Utah ties usually make their presence felt at the Korn Ferry Tour’s annual stop in Utah, but that didn’t happen this year.
Seven golfers with Utah ties entered the 156-player event, but only Farmington’s Daniel Summerhays made the cut. Summerhays shot rounds of 68-63-69-67 to finish in a tie for 50th. He dropped two spots on the KFT points list and is now at 146.
Summerhays shot 31 on the front nine Sunday, having made an eagle 3 on the par-5 3rd hole. However, he played the back nine in 1-over, bogeying the 18th hole.
The cut came at 6-under, meaning that Preston Summerhays (-5) missed by one shot and former BYU golfer Carson Lundell (-3), who won the Colorado Open the prior week, missed by two.
Utah Women’s Open starts Monday at TalonsCove
August will bring two more professional golf tournaments to Utah, beginning Monday when the Larry H. Miller Women’s Open takes place at TalonsCove Golf Club in Saratoga Springs.
The 36-hole tournament’s first round is Monday and the second round is Tuesday.
Former Texas golfer Emilee Hoffman won the tournament last year at The Country Club of Salt Lake City, carding a two-day dotal of even-par 144 to defeat Bountiful’s Haley Sturgeon by three shots.
After that event, the Larry H. Miller Utah Open returns to Riverside Country Club in Provo August 14-16 and will celebrate the 100th playing of the event.
BYU golfer Kihei Akina won last year, firing a 54-hole total of 17-under 199.