Matt McCarty is just one round away from marking his second start since earning his PGA Tour card by winning, with the 26-year-old two shots clear at the Black Desert Championship in Utah.
Matt McCarty perhaps felt that he had gained a sense of the step up from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA Tour at the Sanderson Farms Championship last week, with the youngster finishing in a tie for 63rd. He was unable to build on his opening round of 66; subsequently posting scores of 71, 71, 72.
However, McCarty probably could have hardly asked to find himself in a better position ahead of Sunday at the Black Desert Championship. He has a two-shot lead over the likes of Kevin Streelman, Harris English and Stephan Jaeger.
There is still plenty of work to do for McCarty. Remarkably, just three of the top nine names on the leaderboard posted a worse score than the 64 McCarty produced on Saturday. He had a stretch of five holes on the front nine which he actually played in six under par.
Stephan Jaeger lauds Matt McCarty ahead of the final round of the Black Desert Championship
But where McCarty will have an advantage over many in the field is the knowledge he has of winning golf tournaments in 2024. In fact, he became only the 13th player in Korn Ferry Tour history to automatically earn his PGA Tour card by securing three victories in a single season.
And speaking after his own third round, Jaeger – who had led after two rounds – suggested that McCarty deserves enormous credit for what he has achieved this season.
“Yeah, obviously he’s had a fantastic season. To win three times out there in a pretty short season for them, it’s pretty incredible,” he said.
“He’s obviously really talented. I’ve not played with him so I’m not sure. I don’t know his game. It obviously translates really well. I think you see that more and more often over the last couple years, that that Korn Ferry category plays well, especially some guys that are good drivers of the golf ball.
“That’s kind of an important key on the PGA Tour. If you kind of scrape it around the Korn Ferry and get your card you’re going to have to get better at driving the golf ball, especially in places like this, right?
“So hats off to him; 64 today was a hell of a round. But like I said, I can’t control what he’s doing tomorrow. I’ve got to stick to my own game plan and play somewhat aggressively some holes and also lay back on a couple others.”
A fourth win of 2024 could be another game-changer
McCarty has such a fantastic opportunity ahead of him as some thoughts start to turn towards 2025. He is fully exempt until the end of next year and will get to make his second appearance at the US Open when the tournament heads to Oakmont.
Of course, that does not remove all of the challenges he is set to face. This season has shown how difficult it is for players to force their way into the signature events if they find themselves outside that top 50.
So while his three wins on the Korn Ferry Tour have given him an amazing platform to build from, he will know just how much more significant becoming a PGA Tour winner could be.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
