It’s rare for a PGA Tour pro 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 the Black Desert Championship.
And the former PGA Tour winner didn’t disappoint — both himself and the Utah fans who showed up to watch 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 chose to come back Saturday to hit his 14-foot eagle putt as the rest of his group finished their second rounds.
Why? Because that eagle putt was going to be the difference between Bryan making the cut and earning a check this week or not.
When play was suspended Friday night, Bryan was at three under for the week, tied for 76th and two shots outside the projected cutline of five under. Eagling the par-5 last was the only chance Bryan had to play the weekend after a bogey-free rally 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 try, 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 at 138th.
Thus, Bryan showed up before the 7:40 a.m. sunrise at Black Desert and headed straight for the putting green, knowing if he missed his eagle putt, he wouldn’t have to make any swings.
When play resumed at 8:15 a.m., Bryan stepped up to the putt and drained it, 13 hours after he hit his second shot, much to the delight of the several dozen Utah fans who got 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 contingency out here. Shoot, even at 8:15 this morning there was a lot of them piled up on the green.”
Bryan stuck his fist in the air and then turned toward a crowd of people to the right of the green and tossed his hat in their direction. After sharing a hug with his caddie, who plucked the ball out of the hole for his boss, Bryan turned back again and launched the ball to the fans for a souvenir.
“For that one to go in and give them some golf this afternoon, that was pretty fun,” Bryan said.
