LIU Str Home 5-5 W-1 27-13 5-5 L-1 22-21 5-5 W-1 28-20 4-6 L-3 22-24 Away -'1-26 *3-22 t'7-24 15-27 Blair (cont'd) July 12, 2009 tvea Left, Zac Blair, holding the trophy, gets a hug from his mother Cindy Blair after winning the Utah State amateur golf tournament on Sunday at Valley View Golf Course in Layton. Below, Alex Sutton tees off during Sunday's final round. NICHOLAS DRANEY/Standard-Examiner State Am ui nnciniK uic prprl puflinst From 1D in the West," by former Utah Golf Association executive director Joe Watts, Blair consistently took little time lining up shots or getting ready to swing. It never seemed to matter, however, as he was rarely off the fairway and almost never missed a green in regulation. His effort earned him rounds of even-par 72 and 3-under-par 69 during 36- hole qualifying. In the first round of match play he defeated Conner Jones 2 and 1; then in the second round he knocked off Devon Purser, also 2 and 1 to advance to the quarterfinals. • It was there that Blair thrilled spectators by shooting 9-under-par to defeat future BYU teammate Robbie Fillmore, 2 and 1. Then in the semifinals, he completed a huge come-from-behind victory against Jeff Francis. Down four holes after nine holes, Blair rallied to win \ 1-up and earn a spot in the finals. It was there he met the relatively unknown, Weber State sophomore-to-be Alex Sutton. Sutton, who had only been playing competitive golf for approximately five years, mowed down Jed Wright (2 and 1), Jeff Evans (19 holes), Dan Horner (3 and 1) and Andrew Barton (4 and 3) to earn his spot in the finals. "He played really well. I don't think I made enough shots to beat Zac today. I didn't make a lot of putts, that was the difference," said Sutton, a former Northridge High School star whose dad has a home off the No. 12 tee box. "I left a lot of putts short and you can't do that in match play." Sutton smiled and chuckled a bit when asked about Blair's pace on the course. "That was the story coming in," admitted Sutton, who walked the entire five days of the tournament, including all 32 holes played on Sunday. "I know he likes to play fast, that is why we decided to walk." It nearly became an issue early in the round when Blair, who was riding at the time, mistakenly hit out of turn on the No. 10 tee box in the morning 18. After calling Blair on his mistake, Sutton gained shortlived momentum by carding a birdie 3 on that hole to put the match all square. Blair countered by ditching his cart and asking local player Stuart Gold to be his caddy. The move worked as Blair, energized by the highflying and hand-slapping encouragement of Gold, bird- ied No. 11 and No. 12 to go 2-up in the match. The two players finished the first 18 holes with Blair 2-up, and after Sutton went in the hazard on No. 2 — their 20th holes of the match— and made bogey to put Blair 3-up, the match had tilted in Blair's favor to stay. Shortly thereafter, Blair said, came the turning point of the match. After Sutton made a 20-footer for birdie at No. 3, Blair made his 18-foot birdie try right on top of his opponent. Blair did it again on No. 4, sinking a testy 8-foot- er after conceding Sutton a tap-in birdie. "That was key right there," Blair said. "That could have been a big swing. But instead that kept me with the momentum." A few holes later, Sutton conceded a birdie putt to Blair, and the match was over. 206