Seven of the nine golfers in the field with Utah ties made the cut in the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship on Friday at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington.

With the second round in the books, Cristobal Del Solar of Vina del Mar, Chile, leads the PGA Tour-branded event at 15-under after carding a sparkling 8-under 63 on Friday.

Former University of Maryland golfer David Kocher is alone in second at -14.

Farmington’s Daniel Summerhays, a Korn Ferry Tour regular who is currently 41st on the tour’s points list, is tied for 15th at -10 after shooting a 68 in the second round on what he calls his home course.

The cut came at -6, meaning that Utah-connected golfers Cooper Jones (-9), Connor Howe (-7), Kihei Akina (-7), Peter Kuest (-7), Carson Lundell (-6) and Max Brenchley (-6) will play this weekend.

Former Farmington resident Preston Summerhays, who currently plays for Arizona State, came in at -3, missing the cut by three shots. Utah State Amateur champion Cole Ponich, a BYU golfer, rallied back from Thursday’s 72 with a 69 on Friday to finish at -1 and well off the cut line.

Jones, who is playing in his third KFT event of the summer, recently completed his freshman season at BYU and will go on a church mission in September.

Howe, Akina and Kuest are tied for 49th. Howe is a former Weber High star from Ogden who played collegiately at Georgia Tech and is now a pro.

Akina will be a senior at Highland’s Lone Peak High this fall and has committed to play for BYU. Kuest, 26, was an All-American at BYU and is from Fresno, California, but currently lives in American Fork.

The fifth-year pro had one of the most interesting rounds of the tournament Friday, making a double eagle on the par-5 second hole and an eagle on the par-5 seventh hole, which were his 11th and 16th holes of the day because he started his round on the No. 10 tee.

Kuest, who is 125th on the KFT points list and has played in 14 events this year, birdied the par-5 15th hole and made a par on the difficult 10th hole, a par-4 in the tournament which plays as a par-5 (and the opening hole) for members.

Like Kuest, Lundell is a former Cougar now trying to make it in professional golf. He got under the cut line with a 67 that included birdies on his first three holes.

Brenchley, who recently exhausted his eligibility at BYU, was even more clutch Friday, carding a 65 with a round that included an eagle on the par-5 second hole.

A lengthy discussion between Shapovalov, the chair umpire, Shelton and the supervisor ensued. The chair umpire told the supervisor that Shapovalov said a spectator provoked him, but that he didn’t know what was said.

“I heard it,” insisted Shelton.

Then the chair umpire communicated to the supervisor what Shapovalov said in return.

“I would let it go,” said Paul Annacone on Tennis Channel during the broadcast, emphasizing the subjectivity of the call.

But the supervisor did not. Despite the juncture of the match, with Shapovalov down three match points, Shelton was given the match when the Canadian was defaulted.

“The rules are what they are,” said TC’s Brett Haber, “and it’s a slippery slope if you let someone get away with it, how you control it the next time.”

After speaking directly with the supervisor, the 25-year-old remained at the baseline, incredulous at the outcome.

Wyoming’s early voting is already in full swing for the Aug. 20 primary. In the famously conservative stronghold, where 86 of 93 seats in the state legislature are held by Republicans, the primaries are where the political map of the Cowboy State’s future is drawn.

With infighting in the state’s Republican Party mirroring national splits, we look at both sides of the GOP political gunfight: the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, part of the national State Freedom Caucus Network, and the more moderate Wyoming Caucus.

More: Native representation in the Wyoming legislature rests on Ivan Posey’s shoulders

The boundaries around the different conservative camps are blurry—the Wyoming Caucus does not have an official member list, and the Freedom Caucus does not have any registered members in the state senate. But, over a dozen state senators consistently voted in line with the Freedom Caucus’ U.S. House members during the 2024 legislative session.

Advertisements across the board are rich with big belt buckles and even bigger landscapes, blue jeans, American flags, and calls to preserve the “Wyoming way of life.”

The 2024 state primaries will prove to be a defining moment for the Republican identity in Wyoming. The question remains: Will the momentum that led to Rep. Liz Cheney’s defeat in 2022 result in more Freedom Caucus members entering the state legislature, potentially shifting control? Or will the red wave recede, leaving the moderate Republicans in power but on shaky ground?

Check out the Cowboy State’s regional and congressional races that USA TODAY is monitoring:

Cy Neff reports on Wyoming politics for USA TODAY. You can reach him at cneff@usatoday.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CyNeffNews