An Aggie and a Cougar lead State Am

LAYTON — Kyle Korver received the most attention, but Ben Schilleman and Robbie Fillmore deserved the most attention as the best golfers Wednesday at the Utah Men's State Amateur Championship at Valley View Golf Course.

Schilleman, who plays for Utah State, and Fillmore, who plays for BYU, each shot 6-under-par 66s, which was a full 20 strokes better than the Jazz shooting guard, who said he had fun despite his 86 as he thrilled a small gallery of fans who followed him.

Wednesday was position day for the 156-golfer field, which will be reduced to 31 plus defending champion Dan Horner after Thursday's second round. A score of even-par 144 or perhaps 143 is expected for golfers to make it into match play beginning Friday morning.

Schilleman and Fillmore have the inside track at winning medalist honors, but like Fillmore said, "I've played in enough match play to realize it doesn't matter if you're the No. 1 seed or the No. 32 seed. The goal is just to make match play and go from there."

For Fillmore, who will be a senior at BYU, he said, "I've been playing well. It was definitely not a surprise today."

Fillmore started strong with birdies on three of the first four holes and added tap-in birdies at Nos. 8 and 9. On the back nine, he made putts in the 15-foot range at Nos. 16 and 18 and had his lone bogey at No. 3.

The 21-year-old Schilleman grew up just a couple of miles from Valley View and knows the subtleties of the course pretty well. He had no bogeys on his card and made four birdies and an eagle at No. 17.

"I always seem to play well here and I feel really comfortable," said Schilleman, who will be a junior at Utah State.

All alone at 67 is Jared Overton, a 31-year-old former BYU golfer, who said his putting was excellent with a couple of 20-footers and a 30-footer for birdies. However, he missed a four-foot eagle putt on his final hole or he might have been tied for the lead.

One of the youngest players in the tournament, 16-year-old Devon Purser of Clearfield, shot a 68, while former champion Tommy Sharp (2003) and Darrin Overson (1998) joined Sandy's Andrew Barton and South Jordan's Chad Crowther at 69.

Scott Hailes, the former U.S. Junior Amateur champion, who recently got his amateur status back, played in his first amateur event in more than six years and shot a 70 along with four other players.