Kihei Akina is midway to incomes a PGA Tour card.
The sophomore at BYU completed ninth Sunday at the PGA Tour’s Bank of Utah Championship. This was his third begin in the championship and his first time taking part in the weekend, and it paid off in a massive manner.
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Akina, the reigning Phil Mickelson Award winner as school golf’s Freshman of the Year, earned two factors toward his PGA Tour University Accelerated complete, placing him at 10. That means he wants 10 more to earn a PGA Tour card.
“Just a great week to be back here in Utah again,” Akina said. “Just really lucky to have the privilege to be able to play here for the third time, and to be able to play well, it’s pretty awesome.”
Akina, who was born in Hawaii and performed high faculty golf in Utah before committing to BYU, has risen to tenth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. He was a member of the U.S. Walker Cup workforce last month and had zero Accelerated factors when the 12 months started.
He has made three cuts on the PGA Tour this 12 months. He completed high 10 at the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship in June, performed on the Palmer and Walker Cup groups and now has a top-10 end on Tour. That’s how he got to 10 factors, and only one participant, Texas Tech junior Connor Graham, has more Accelerated factors. Tennessee freshman Tyler Watts also has 10 factors.
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With his top-10 end in Utah, Akina also earned a spot in the discipline for the Butterfield Bermuda Championship later this month at Port Royal in Southampton. Another made cut and high 10 there would be value two factors.
Three gamers – Gordon Sargent, Luke Clanton and Jackson Koivun – have earned their PGA Tour playing cards via Accelerated. Akina is wanting to become the fourth, and if his trajectory continues as it has in 2026, he could be there by 12 months’s finish.
“It’s in the back of your head,” Akina said. “At the end of the day, you’ve just got to play golf, and that’s what I did this week.”
Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, masking school and novice golf, the PGA Tour and a lot more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).
This article initially appeared on Golfweek: BYU’s Kihei Akina is midway to a PGA Tour card after high 10 in Utah
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