The Bank of Utah Championship might not have the glamor of THE PLAYERS or the prestige of Augusta, but this event still holds an important grip on dozens of careers. It’s one of the final fall events that will decide which player gets to keep their PGA Tour cards for 2026 and who gets dodged into the uncertain circles of Q-School. Now that the PGA Tour has reduced its full-status cutoff from the top 125 to just the top 100 players next year, the stakes become higher and more challenging.

That’s why if a certain player decides to sit out this event, it’s going to raise many eyebrows. But still, here we are. Here are three marquee names that will be absent this week from Utah, for various reasons.

Veteran Matt Kuchar’s tempt of fate

Matt Kuchar’s decision to sit out Utah is arguably the most surprising of the other two names. At 47, the former world No. 4 is on the edge of his PGA Tour existence. He currently sits at No. 114 in the FedExCup Fall standings, fourteen spots outside of the safety zone. Now, if we were playing by the old rules, Kuchar’s ranks would have been more than enough to secure full playing privileges for next season. But under the newly updated system, it’s a purgatory of “conditional status.”

Skipping the Bank of Utah Championship would mean skipping a 500-point opportunity, the same as any full-field PGA event. Kuchar could have secured his next season with even a top-10 finish, but his decision to stay out of the tournament further limits his chance of swinging the club next year on the Tour. Now he will have just three events left – Mexico, Bermuda, and Sea Island to claw his way into the top 100.

For a player who’s been a fixture on Tour since Tiger Woods was in his prime, this seems like a risky strategy.

Utah’s son, Tony Finau, sits out at home

For Tony Finau, this event could be a home celebration. Born and raised in Salt Lake City, Finau could easily have been the hometown hero. Yet, he will not be teeing off this time.

In hindsight, he doesn’t need to participate as he sits comfortably at No. 73 in the FedExCup Fall standings. That means his card for 2026 is safe. But that does not mean he didn’t have lucrative reasons to compete here.

Players ranked 51-60 in the fall standings earn entry into two Sig Events next season – the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. Those limited-field tournaments offer a massive purse of $20 M each and 700 FedExCup points to the winner. At 73rd, Finau is outside that cutoff. If he had chosen to play in the Bank of Utah Championship, he could have been vaulted into that group.

Also, his season this year was one of his worst. He just had one top-10 finish in 20 starts and got a major dip in world ranking (from 26 to 66). Just recently, he withdrew from the Baycurrent Classic, which added more questions than answers. Interestingly, there are also rumors that Finau is planning to join LIV Golf. His absence will then surely fuel these talks.

Star player Lucas Glover’s notable void

Unlike Kuchar and Finau, Glover has no necessary reason to be present in Utah. He is on the Fall list at No. 36, with full access to next year’s season as well as several Signature Events.

Yet, his absence will be felt. Just a year ago, Glover was in the exact position as the above two players. At the 2024 Black Desert Championship, which is what they called this event before, he was 61st in the Fall standings, and he needed to climb back. Hence, he eventually competed in the Tournament and secured a T3 with 19-under par.

What’s interesting is that he was often complaining about the FedEx Cup format at that time, expressing his confusion at how the point system worked. “I still don’t know how any of this works.. I’m here because I didn’t play good [in] the regular part of the year,” he said back then.

The absence of these players perfectly captures the new reality of PGA Tour life in 2025 and the coming 2026. The point system for many is still confusing, while for others, these events will not be a ground to prove their worth, but to scramble for survival.