Kihei Akina’s earned start in Bermuda has already bought him two more rounds.
The BYU sophomore shot 66 and 67 at Port Royal Golf Course, reached 9 under par and begins Saturday tied for 13th at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship. He is four shots behind co-leaders Kensei Hirata and Chandler Blanchet, close enough that the weekend is no longer about proving he belongs in the field.
Now he has to decide what to do with the position.
Akina made six birdies against one bogey Thursday. On Friday, he was only 1 under through 15 holes before making eagle at the par-5 seventh and birdie at the eighth. That two-hole finish turned a comfortable made cut into a place within the first 22 names on a crowded leaderboard.
It also extended a run that is getting harder to dismiss as one good week. BYU Athletics lists Akina at four made cuts in four PGA Tour appearances this season. Three weeks after his solo ninth at the Bank of Utah Championship earned this start, he has reached another PGA weekend without needing the cut line to rescue him.
The final two holes changed Saturday’s assignment
Akina did not spend Friday chasing the cut. He started the second round at 5 under, which became the final cut number, and never gave a stroke back to par for more than one hole.
His card was steady rather than spectacular for most of the round. Starting at No. 10, he made eight pars and a birdie at No. 18. He added a birdie at No. 2, bogeyed No. 4 and stood 1 under for the day with two holes left.
Then came the move:
| Hole | Friday result | Tournament total | What changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 7, par 5 | Eagle | 8 under | Moved Akina away from the middle of the weekend field |
| No. 8, par 3 | Birdie | 9 under | Put him in the tie for 13th, four off the lead |
| No. 9, par 4 | Par | 9 under | Closed a 67 without giving the late gain back |
Those three holes are the useful part of the scorecard. Akina did not merely get hot somewhere in the middle and protect it. He found three shots after the round had already spent most of its energy.
That matters because Port Royal’s first two days produced unusually low scoring. The PGA Tour reported that the wind, normally the course’s best defense, had not reached full force. Hirata and Blanchet reached 13 under, six more players finished at 12 or 11 under, and the cut fell at 5 under.
A 67 was good golf. It was not rare enough to move Akina by itself. The closing eagle-birdie sequence gave the round its weight.
Nine under means contention, with a crowded-board warning
Four shots is a manageable deficit over 36 holes. It is also not permission to describe Akina as one of two or three players chasing the leaders.
Twelve players sit between 10 and 13 under. Another nine, including Akina, share 9 under. A single early bogey could push him deep into the twenties before the leaders tee off. A 3-under opening nine could move him the other way just as quickly.
That congestion changes the question. Akina does not need one heroic charge to catch 13 under. He needs to keep making birdies while avoiding the loose stretch that a dense leaderboard punishes twice: once on the card and again through all the players who pass.
The cut line helps show the scale. Akina is four shots ahead of the golfers who advanced on the number and four behind the lead. He enters the weekend at the exact midpoint of that eight-shot window.
His position is better than the tie for 13th sounds because it keeps the front page within one strong round. It is more fragile than the same number sounds because eight other players own it with him.
The course is expected to change
Akina’s first 36 holes came on a short par-71 course that played like a scoring venue. Saturday may ask for a different version of golf.
The PGA Tour’s second-round report says stronger wind is expected for the weekend. Golfweek’s course report describes Port Royal as 6,828 yards, the shortest course on the Tour, but notes that exposed ocean wind can erase the advantage of that modest yardage. The 2025 final round averaged 73.12 when gusts reached 35 mph, the highest single-round scoring average in tournament history.
That does not guarantee a difficult Saturday. Forecasts move, and a course can change by tee time. It does mean the first two rounds should not be treated as a fixed scoring requirement.
Akina’s Thursday card came from six birdies and one bogey. Friday included four scoring gains and one bogey, with the eagle doing the work of two birdies. Across 36 holes, he has made 10 birdies, one eagle and three bogeys.
The encouraging number is not just 9 under. It is three bogeys in two rounds. If the wind strengthens, preserving shots may matter as much as adding them. The leaders have spent two days separating with birdies; Port Royal could make patience the separator next.
No public scorecard can tell us whether Akina’s ball flight is ready for a different wind or which shots he will choose Saturday. It can tell us he has limited damage so far and already made one late-round adjustment when his Friday score needed a push.
The Bank of Utah invitation has become a second test
Akina did not enter this field through a generic sponsor exemption. His solo ninth at the Bank of Utah Championship earned an available place in the next PGA Tour event.
That distinction shaped the stakes before he arrived. The Bank of Utah finish proved he could turn a made cut into a climb, shooting 65 twice on the weekend to move from a tie for 35th to ninth. Bermuda asked whether that finish could create more than a ceremonial next start.
The answer through Friday is yes.
Akina opened with a 66, followed it with a 67 and made the cut by four shots. He did not need the value of his Utah finish explained again. He converted it into another complete tournament.
The sequence now has three distinct stages:
- Two opening 67s in Utah made the cut.
- Two weekend 65s earned a top 10 and the Bermuda start.
- A 66-67 opening in Bermuda earned another weekend and a position four shots from the lead.
That is real progression, but it is not a professional forecast. Akina remains an amateur on the official leaderboard and a sophomore on BYU’s men’s golf roster. Four made cuts this season do not make the decision about when or whether to turn professional for him.
They do make the current college standard unusually clear. BYU’s lead golfer has now reached the weekend every time he has entered a PGA Tour event this season, and his last six Tour rounds are 67, 67, 65, 65, 66 and 67.
Different courses make that sequence less scientific than it looks. It is still a strong answer to the only question the cut asks: can he score well enough for two more rounds?
Zac Blair gives BYU two weekend cards
Akina will not be the only golfer with a BYU connection playing Saturday.
Former Cougar Zac Blair shot 65 and 69 to reach 8 under, one behind Akina and tied for 23rd. BYU Athletics says it is Blair’s 12th made cut of the season. The official PGA Tour leaderboard lists him at No. 120 in the FedExCup Fall standings, which gives his weekend a different kind of pressure.
Akina can play for position without Tour status attached to the result. Blair is trying to improve a season-long professional standing during the fall schedule. Their scorecards sit one stroke apart, but the consequences are not the same.
Saturday’s tee sheet keeps them close. Golfweek lists Blair at 7:12 a.m. Mountain with Cam Davis and S.Y. Noh. Akina follows at 7:34 a.m. Mountain with Chad Ramey and Andrew Novak. Golf Channel’s live television window begins later, at 11 a.m. Mountain, so neither group’s full round is guaranteed to appear on the broadcast.
The official PGA Tour leaderboard is the dependable way to follow every hole. The timing also means both BYU-connected players will post scores before the final groups reach the back nine.
Saturday has a narrower challenge than the headline
Akina is four shots off a PGA Tour lead. That sentence can carry more hype than a 36-hole golf tournament deserves.
The practical job is smaller. Start from 9 under, handle whatever wind Port Royal supplies and remain close enough that Sunday matters. A player tied with eight others cannot spend Saturday watching only the two names at 13 under.
His Friday finish offers a useful model. Akina was patient for 15 holes, accepted one bogey and used the two best scoring chances at the end of his round. He did not force the card into motion early. He also did not settle for the safe side of the cut once it became clear he had room.
That balance is the weekend test. The expected wind punishes stubborn aggression, but the crowded board will not reward 18 cautious pars forever.
Akina earned this start with his finish in Utah. He earned Saturday and Sunday with 133 strokes in Bermuda. The next two rounds decide whether this week becomes another made-cut receipt or something larger.
Either way, the first answer is already on the board: the invitation traveled.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: Akina and Blair make the Bermuda cut for both players’ rounds, positions, made-cut counts and Akina’s hole-by-hole scoring.
- PGA Tour: official Butterfield Bermuda Championship leaderboard for the 36-hole order, amateur designation, leaders, scores and cut line.
- PGA Tour and Associated Press: second-round report for the co-leaders, low-scoring conditions, wind outlook and FedExCup Fall context.
- Golfweek: Saturday tee times and broadcast schedule for Akina’s and Blair’s groups plus the Golf Channel window.
- Golfweek: Port Royal course and wind analysis for the course length, exposed design, 2025 final-round scoring average and wind effects.
- BYU Sport Nuts: Akina’s Bank of Utah top-nine analysis, Akina’s Wyndham weekend and the BYU men’s golf hub.
