A tradition-laden golf tournament that turns 100 years old next year produced the youngest champion in its history Sunday afternoon at Riverside Country Club in Provo.
And not a lot of people were surprised.
Incoming BYU freshman Kihei Akina, who has been one of the highest-ranked junior golfers in the country the past few years, fired a 54-hole total of 17-under 199 and won the Larry H. Miller Utah Open by two shots over fellow amateur Cole Ogden and professionals Brady McKinlay and Spencer Wallace.
Akina, 19, is the first amateur to win the event, first held in 1926, since former BYU golfer Patrick Fishburn claimed it in 2017. Fishburn is now playing on the PGA Tour, and Akina is seemingly headed in that direction as well, whenever he decides to leave college golf.
"A lot of relief right now," said Akina, a Lone Peak High graduate. "It is awesome to hold that trophy. It was a tough day, but I am proud of the way I fought through and finished it out, so it is awesome."
Kihei Akina lines up his putt on the 17th green during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina hits his tee shot on the 18th hole of the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Spencer Wallace watches a putt during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Cole Ogden looks on during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina putts on the 17th green during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Cole Ogden chips during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Spencer Wallace putts on the 18th green during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina hits his tee shot on the 18th hole during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Spectators make their way down the 18th fairway during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina takes a moment before putting on the 18th green during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Jhared Hack lines up a putt on the 18th green during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina lines up his putt on the 18th green during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina putts on the 18th green during the final round of the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina pumps his fist after making a putt to win the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina, left, is congratulated by Cole Ogden, right, after winning the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina poses for a portrait with the trophy after winning the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina looks on after winning the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Winner Kihei Akina poses with his coach, Matt Baird, who was the low senior, after the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina poses for a portrait with the trophy after winning the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Kihei Akina poses for a portrait with the trophy after winning the 2025 Utah Open at Riverside Country Club in Provo on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
The second-round leader after shooting a 66 Friday and a 65 Saturday, Akina wobbled a bit on the back nine Sunday to lose sole possession of the lead, taking penalty strokes on holes 10 and 15, but recovered nicely by draining a 30-footer for birdie on 16 and cruised in from there for a 4-under 68.
"There were plenty of opportunities to get back in front, and so I wasn't worried too much," said the soft-spoken (to put it mildly) Akina. " I knew I would come back and start making some putts, and luckily, I was able to."
Awesome is also the way Akina described being the youngest champion — by a week — in tournament history. Former BYU golfer Mike Brannan won exactly 50 years ago as a 19 year-old, having turned 19 on Dec. 27, 1974. Akina turned 19 on January 3, so he is a week younger than Brannan — who has passed away — was back then.
"Still a long way to go, but it is cool to get some success at a young age," said Akina, who exudes humility. "You know, it is all building blocks for the future."
Asked if he will bring the crystal Utah Open trophy that goes to the champion — a larger one stays with the Utah Section PGA and has winners' names etched on it — to the first BYU tournament of the fall, Akina shook his head.
"I'm not a show off," he said, adding that he is looking forward to teaming with the likes of Simon Kwon, who tied for 12th, Peter Kim, Jackson Mauss, Angus Klintworth, Tyson Shelley and Kevin Wu.
"I think we're going to have a good team. We just need a couple of kids to step up, but yeah, I think we're trending, and I think BYU as a whole university is in a good spot right now," said Akina, one of the most-recruited golfers in the country in the last recruiting cycle.
Wallace, from St. George, closed with a 66 Sunday to tie with McKinlay, a former Utah Valley University golfer from Canada, for low professional honors. They will each get $20,500 for their efforts, splitting the first- and second-place prize money.
"My game was good, but I had a lot of missed opportunities this week," said McKinlay, in his second year as a pro. "I will be honest, I am never going to be upset with 15-under through three rounds, but yeah, lots of stuff I can look back on and figure I can do better."
After Wallace had posted the -15 score, McKinlay hit his tee shot on the Par 3 17th to 5 feet. But he missed the birdie putt, a putt that cost him $4,500, all told.
Actually, he was happy to have held onto what he did, because on No. 18 his approach rolled over the green, and he faced a trick downhill chip to save par.
He accomplished that, however, with his wife/caddy also enjoying the clutch chip and 3-footer for par.
"In this stage of golf, that's a lot of money," McKinlay said. "I was happy to do that. I would have loved to make birdie, but to get up and down there and make a 4 is all I could have asked for when I was in that position."
Ogden, 33, a former BYU golfer and State Amateur champion who was in the final group with Akina and McKinlay, was more than pleased with how he played this week as a father of three (and one on the way) with a full-time job in medical sales.
"Nobody probably picked my name to win at the start of the week," said Ogden, brother of former Masters contestant Clay Ogden. "I don't blame them, but it was pretty darn fun to be in the mix, for sure."
Ogden, who says he plays once a week if he's lucky, said it was like riding a bike when he got into contention on the back nine, tied for the lead after Akina bogeyed No. 10.
"It kinda clicks back into game mode," he said of his emotions.
Ogden didn't have a bogey on his card Sunday, but also failed to birdie any of the Par 5s.
"Coming into the week, if you would have told me I would be in the final pairing and had a chance to win in the last three holes, I don't know (if I would have believed it)," Ogden said.
"That really wasn't on my radar, but if you don't have self-belief in this game you might as well not tee it up."
Wallace won the section sidebar tournament-within-a-tournament and earned $1,500 for that breakthrough.
Matt Baird, Akina's teacher, shot 8-under 208 to tie for 15th in the big tournament and win the low senior sidebar purse and pocket $500.
State Amateur champion Bowen Mauss, eliminated at the U.S. Amateur in a first-round match and not arriving back in Utah until late Thursday night, was the fifth-lowest amateur with an 8-under 208.
199 — a-Kihei Akina (66-65-68)
201 — Spencer Wallace (67-68-66), a-Cole Ogden (65-67-69), Brady McKinlay (66-67-68)
202 — a-Boston Bracken (67-68-67)
204 — Martin Leon (69-69-66), Zac Jones (67-70-67), Carson Lundell (70-67-67), Jhared Hack (69-67-68).
205 — Cole Ponich (70-68-67), Kirby Coe-Kirkham (69-66-70)
206 — Blake Tomlinson (67-69-70), a-Simon Kwon (64-70-72)
207 — Josh Anderson (71-67-69)
208 — a-Bowen Mauss (69-69-70), Derek Fribbs (68-70-70), Matt Baird (67-71-70).
209 — Van Thomas (71-68-70), Braxton Watts (71-67-71).
210 (T18) — a-Noah Schone (67-74-69), Cole Beyer (70-70-70), Zac Blair (69-71-70), a-David Timmins (72-67-71), a-Brandon Robison (66-71-73).
