Ben James extends hot streak with top-five finish at Bank of Utah Championship

Ben James has been one of, if not the most consistent golfer on the PGA Tour as the calendar began to turn from summer to fall. His tidy run of results continued Sunday at the Bank of Utah Championship.

James shot a final-round 4-under 67 and finished tied for fifth. It marked his fourth top-5 finish in his last six starts and his third in a row after finishing third at the Wyndham Championship and runner-up at the Biltmore Championship Asheville.

James, who shot a Saturday 64 to find himself firmly in the mix for his first Tour title, had a bit of a stalled start – his first birdie of the day didn’t come until the par-5 7th. He added another on the very next hole and added two more on Nos. 10 and 14. There were plenty of other opportunities as he tried to chase down eventual winner Austin Smotherman – he had three birdie tries of 8 feet or less on the back nine - but instead he’ll walk away with a fine finish, but no trophy.

“It was a good day. Hit it nice. Can't really be mad at 4-under. I wish I made some more putts. I hit a lot of (really) good ones. Definitely really frustrated, played great. Man, three of them were halfway in the hole. Really proud how I stayed pretty level-headed even though I was really, really frustrated,” James said. “I didn't let the ‘last’ shot bother me. I kept on focusing on the next shot and doing the best I can with the next shot, which I'm really proud of.

“It was something where I was really teetering throughout the day with frustration and emotion. I was definitely really happy how I handled myself not having my best stuff today and keeping it a nice round of golf.”

James ended up four shots back of Smotherman’s winning total and was tied for fifth alongside veteran Kevin Streelman.

It has certainly been a summer of learning for the University of Virginia superstar after earning his PGA Tour card via his finish atop the PGA Tour University rankings earlier this year. He made his professional debut at the RBC Canadian Open, where he shot 63 on Friday to sniff the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend. James has missed just one cut this season (the 3M Open) and has six top-25s in his 10 starts – including a T23 at the U.S. Open.

James said the key to his recent success has been his ball striking and how consistent he’s felt his effort has been tee to green.

“I noticed I've been hole high a lot, which is really important. So my distance control has been really nice lately,” James explained. “I've been hitting it really nice. I think I hit (all) 14 fairways today, hit a lot of greens again… I think my longest putt for par was five feet. Pretty as stress-free of a final round as it could be, even though I was definitely a little emotional after those missed putts.”

James will take next week off as the PGA Tour heads to Japan for the Baycurrent Classic before, he said, he’ll play the rest of the events on the schedule through the fall.

And he’s as eager as ever for his consistency to continue.