Perhaps never before has the Utah Open had such a Utah-centric leaderboard as it does after two rounds of the annual golf tournament, celebrating its 100th year this year at Riverside Country Club.
The top 11 golfers after 36 holes of the 54-hole tournament, sponsored by Larry H. Miller Company, are all Utah born-and-bred and each of the golfers is in his 20s with most having experience playing at one of the state's colleges.
Blake Tomlinson, a 27-year-old former University of Utah golfer, who won 2022 Utah Open, fired a 10-under-par 62 Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into Sunday's final round with a 16-under 128 total.
Two former BYU golfers, Carson Lundell and Simon Kwon, are tied at 130 with former Utah Tech golfer Jackson Rhees, while two more ex-Cougars, Rhett Rasmussen and Tyson Shelley, are tied for fifth, another stroke back at 131. Tied for seventh are ex-Ute Braxton Watts, former BYU golfer Keanu Akina and current BYU golfer Jackson Mauss, while another amateur, Parker Bunn, who plays for the Cougars, and Salt Lake's John Fox are tied for 10th at 133.
Tomlinson started off with two birdies and added three more to make the turn at 31. Then, on the back nine, he made five more birdies for another 31, just missing the Utah Open record of 61.

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