Michael Brennan topped PGA Tour strokes gained off the tee on his pro debut at Bank of Utah Championship 2025

Michael Brennan won the Bank of Utah Championship 2025 on his professional debut. The 23-year-old dominated at Black Desert, his third-ever PGA Tour start, and clinched a four-shot victory with a 5-under 66 on Sunday. Interestingly, the sponsor exemption also averaged 7.6 strokes gained off the tee, the most by any player on the Tour this season.

The PGA Tour’s Sean Martin took to social media to share that Brennan’s 7.6 strokes gained off the tee beat Michael Thorbjornsen’s 7.2 to become the highest on tour in 2025. He also beat the likes of Gary Woodland and Bryson DeChambeau, who gained +6.9 and +6.7 respectively. The Black Desert event runner-up Rico Hoey’s 6.6 strokes gained off the tee at The Players currently sits fifth on the season statistics.

For the unversed, Brennan averaged a stunning 351 yards (321 metres) at the Black Desert Resort, ranking second in driving distance, as he shot increasingly longer over the weekend. The former PGA Tour Americas champion hit 34 of 35 fairways during his maiden Tour win.

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Best single-week Strokes Gained Off-the-Tee performances in 2025:

• 1. Michael Brennan (Utah) +7.6
• 2. Michael Thorbjornsen (ISCO Championship) +7.2
• 3. Gary Woodland (Valero Texas Open) +6.9
• 4. Bryson DeChambeau (PGA Championship) +6.7
• 5. Rico Hoey (The Players) +6.6

It is pertinent to note that Michael Brennan ranked seventh in driving accuracy with 89 per cent over the weekend. Meanwhile, he sat second for driving ball speed with 188 mph at Black Desert.

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Michael Brennan joins unique 7-player club in PGA Tour record books

Michael Brennan won the Bank of Utah Championship, becoming the first sponsor exemption to win since Nick Dunlap clinched the title at The American Express in January 2024 as an amateur. With the triumph, the former Wake Forest player also only the seventh player since 1970 to win a Tour event in first three starts.

The champion golfer joined the likes of Bob Gilder, Seve Ballesteros, Russell Henley, Garrick Higgo, Jim Benepe and last year’s Bank of Utah Championship winner Matt McCarty in the third-event winner’s club. Interestingly, the PGA Tour-bound golfer later revealed that he “had no idea” of the statistic during the event.

Reacting to joining the unique winner’s club in PGA Tour history book, Michael Brennan said, as quoted by ASAP Sports:

“Yeah, that's really cool. I had no idea. It had been over two years since I played in the last TOUR start in 2023, so quite a long gape between the U.S. Open at LACC and then here. So, it's not like I played the last two weeks, so it was kind of an interesting get. I mean, cool to be on that list.”

With the win, Brennan gets to skip the Korn Ferry Tour next year and play on the PGA Tour. The 23-year-old, who is yet to win on the KFT, earned berths in the PGA Championship 2026 and the $20 million prize pursed RBC Heritage. He also leapt 68 positions from No.111 to 43 on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) on Sunday.

Edited by Vishnu Mohan