2026 Bank of Utah Championship pool picks: start with the Black Desert winners

The Bank of Utah Championship runs October 1-4, 2026, at Black Desert Resort in Ivins, Utah. The PGA TOUR field page confirms the dates and venue. Golf Pools Pro had 116 players in its PGA TOUR-sourced field snapshot when this guide was prepared Monday; that is a working field, not a promise that every name will start.

Black Desert's fairways run through lava rock. The resort identifies it as a Tom Weiskopf design, with greens set among black lava fields. My pool approach is to leave room for aggressive scorers without depending on every selection to produce a career week. Check withdrawals again before the pool's displayed deadline.

The picks below are editorial preferences, not a statistical model or a current-form ranking. The strongest specific evidence here is recent tournament history. Two editions give us something useful to work with, but not enough to declare anyone a guaranteed weekend scorer.

Michael Brennan gets my first look. PGA TOUR's 2025 final-round notes record his four-shot win, with rounds of 67, 65, 64 and 66. He also led that field in strokes gained off the tee. That is a better reason to consider him than the defending-champion label alone. I would start a course-history-led entry with him, while remembering that last year's performance does not establish this week's form.

Matt McCarty is my second anchor for the same deliberately narrow reason: he won the inaugural edition in 2024. The TOUR's 2025 notes also list him in the top five the following year. I prefer that repeat evidence to picking a familiar name with no Black Desert result behind the choice. In a tiered pool, treat Brennan and McCarty as comparisons within their actual groups, not as a pairing you can necessarily select.

Rico Hoey and Pierceson Coody are my next course-history considerations. Hoey finished second in 2025 and Coody tied for third. Those results put them on the shortlist; they do not prove either player is safer than everyone else in this field. I would be comfortable using both in an Open Picks entry built around the two past winners.

For the remaining slots, my first comparison list is Maverick McNealy, Harry Hall, Nick Taylor and Max Greyserman. This is an editorial shortlist from the field, not a claim that all four arrive in peak form. Look at their latest completed starts before saving your card. If you cannot explain why you prefer one, do not pretend a name-only choice is a statistical edge.

Johnny Keefer and Marco Penge are alternatives I would consider when I want to move beyond a card driven entirely by course history. I would use those slots to express a different view of the field, rather than assume either player will be unpopular. We do not have entrant-ownership projections for this pool.

Tony Finau is on the published field list, but I would not make him an automatic anchor. If your reason for choosing him is name recognition, compare him with the course-history picks before saving the entry. His presence in the field confirms availability for consideration, not current scoring form.

Max Homa is another name I would not select automatically. This is a warning about my own selection process, not an injury report or a claim that his game is in trouble. If all you have is recognition, compare recent results before treating him as an anchor.

Even Brennan and McCarty deserve the same check. Course history is the organizing idea for this guide, not permission to ignore a withdrawal, a change in preparation, or better information later in the week.

For an Open Picks pool using 12 golfers with the best eight counting, here is one course-history-first starting card: Michael Brennan, Matt McCarty, Rico Hoey, Pierceson Coody, Maverick McNealy, Harry Hall, Nick Taylor, Max Greyserman, Johnny Keefer, Marco Penge, Max Homa and Tony Finau. This is a draft to review against the final field, not a claim that these are the 12 safest players.

My first review would be the Homa and Finau slots. Keep either only if your current-week research supports the choice. In a small pool, there is no need to reject a strong shared pick just to be different. In a larger pool, make one or two considered changes rather than replacing the whole core. For Tiered Picks or Clubhouse Chaos, rebuild from the actual groups; this Open Picks card may not be legal in your format.

Hosts: check the required pick count, how many scores count, and the OB rule before inviting players. If you use grouped picks, review the refreshed field before locking groups. Group lock and the deadline for submitting picks are different events; use the pool's displayed pick deadline rather than assuming Tuesday group lock closes entries.

Entrants: fill every required slot, save the entry, and confirm the saved golfers. Recheck the field near the deadline, especially if you chose someone because of an early commitment announcement. A best-eight format gives you spare selections, but it does not make missed cuts harmless if too few of your golfers remain available to count.

Use the create-pool button on this page to start your Bank of Utah Championship pool. Choose the tournament in setup, review the rules, then share the invite link. Players join free; any Golf Pools Pro software fee belongs to the host.