A much different version of Kihei Akina appeared Sunday at Riverside Country Club, where he showed advances in his golf game and evidence of maturity as he battled through the final round of the Larry H. Miller Utah Open.

And now he’s the youngest champion of a tournament that will celebrate its 100th anniversary next year.

In 2022, starting his sophomore year at Lone Peak High School, Akina played in the last threesome of the final round and faded early. Three years later, it was a different story. Every time the BYU freshman showed signs of wobbling on the back nine, he steadied himself.

Akina may have given his challengers some hope, but he never fell behind. In the end, having taken a two-stroke victory over three players, he spoke of “a lot of relief right now.”

Akina added, “I’m proud of the way I fought through it.”

He shot 66-65-68 for a 17-under-par total, topping amateur Cole Ogden and pros Spencer Wallace and Brady McKinlay. Boston Bracken, who will start his Arizona State career this month, placed fifth. With three top-five showings, this was the best Utah Open performance for amateurs since the 1930s. Patrick Fishburn, then a 25-year-old BYU senior, was the event’s most recent amateur champion, in 2017.

Akina’s victory came 50 years to the day after BYU sophomore Mike Brannan won the title at Riverside. Brannan turned 20 in late December that year; Akina will be 20 in early January, making him the youngest-ever winner by a week.

His response to the news: “Cool.”

That’s a good description of the way Akina dealt with some back-nine adversity, while also catching a break or two. Not even a drive into the penalty area left of the No. 15 fairway fazed him, as he salvaged a par and maintained his lead.

And on the par-4 No. 16, after his iron shot off the tee barely stayed out of trouble on the left, he made what became a clinching birdie. Distracted by “a big fly,” he hit the 30-foot putt too hard. But the ball crashed into the hole.

“Kihei played incredible golf,” McKinlay said. “He was as steady as anybody and made countless putts.”

Akina kept Utah Section PGA administrators from presenting the traditional oversized check to the winner. First prize was boosted to $25,000 in the first year of the Larry H. Miller Company’s title sponsorship; McKinlay and Wallace earned $20,500.

Wallace, who teaches golf in St. George, collected a $1,500 bonus as the top performer among Section members and associates. “Always fun when you can finish on top with those guys,” he said.

McKinlay, who won four consecutive tournaments as a Utah Valley University senior, knows how to finish. He couldn’t quite catch Akina or hold off Wallace’s run, and spoke of “a lot of missed opportunities this week, to be honest.” But he was happy to make a tough par save on No. 18, worth a difference of $4,500.

“Honestly, in this stage of golf, that’s a lot of money,” he said.

Ogden became a Utah Open success story at age 33 as a former BYU golfer and 2013 State Amateur champion, while trying to follow his brother, Clay, a two-time winner of this event.

“Nobody probably picked me to win at the start of the week, and I don’t blame ’em,” he said, “but it’s pretty damn fun to be in the mix, for sure.”

Kihei made that discovery in 2022, and he followed through in ’25. He noted how learning from “past failures” became important Sunday. His swing coach, Riverside teaching professional Matt Baird, sounded more proud of Akina’s win than his own performance as the low senior, while tying for 15th place overall.

“Being here with my student is something special,” Baird said after the awards presentation. “We’ve been working pretty hard on his game and seeing him succeed … is more gratifying. It’s kind of passing the torch.”