Michael Brennan has three wins this year in PGA Tour-sanctioned events, but until this week if your pro golf interest doesn’t dip below the Korn Ferry Tour level or you’re not a college golf nerd, you may know little about the 24-year-old from West Virginia.
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Brennan has been precocious at every level of golf, and if his play this weekend in the PGA Tour’s Bank of Utah Championship were to fall just right, he could skip Triple-A and go straight to the major leagues.
An eight-time winner in college while at Wake Forest, including two ACC individual titles, and a three-time champion this year on the PGA Tour Americas, Brennan stands alone in first after 36 holes at Black Desert Resort, two shots up on Jackson Suber and Piercson Coody. He backed up an opening 67 on Thursday with a 65 in the second round to get to 10 under, and in only his third PGA Tour start, Brennan has given himself a shot at the $1.08 million first prize and an instant tour card for 2026.
As it is, Brennan earned himself a fulltime spot on the KFT next year by getting so hot in August and September that he won three times in a four-start span—twice in Canada and once in Minnesota.
He was a top-10 machine in the Americas season, notching 12 of those finishes in 16 starts.
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Brennan, whose previous PGA Tour starts came in the 2022 Genesis Invitational and 2023 U.S. Open, got into the Utah event this week with a sponsor’s exemption.
“I’ve got great support and have to thank the tournament director, John [Coolbaugh], here this week for giving me a spot. It really means a lot,” Brennan said. “It’s very exciting to be in tour event. I wasn’t sure I was going to be play any this fall, so to have the opportunity to play in one is awesome.
“ … It’s been a really fun week so far. Hopefully it stays that way. I know it will regardless of [the] play but be nice play well this weekend.”
Brennan is climbing the pro ladder at an efficient clip. After graduating from Wake Forest, he qualified for the Americas Tour through a 12th-place finish in the 2024 PGA Tour University Ranking, and that has given him invaluable experience.
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“I feel like I’ll definitely be more prepared for this weekend after having those experiences,” Brennan said, “and I know it’s not the same level, but I am going to try to treat them the exact same and see what happens.”
Not surprising for his athletic and big-hitting generation, Brennan smashes the ball off the tee and this week is fifth in driving distance (354.30 yards) and No. 1 in strokes gained/off the tee (3.721). On Friday, he played the three par 5s in four under, including an eagle at the ninth, where he missed the green and chipped in from 37 feet. A big key at Black Desert is keeping your ball out of the sharp, black lava, and Brennan has been impressively accurate, missing only three fairways over two rounds while hitting 80 percent of the greens.
“Just kind of looking to stay a lot of the same this weekend,” Brennan said. “Hopefully driver stays hot because if you’re not in the fairway it’s trouble out here. So, yeah, putting the ball in play is important.”
