Weekly PGA Recap: McCarty Joins the Party

This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.

If you didn't know who Matt McCarty was before Sunday, you were not alone. Heck, going back only a few months, it's likely not many PGA Tour pros knew of him, either.

In just his third career PGA Tour start, McCarty won the inaugural Black Desert Championship in Utah, fending off Stephan Jaeger by a closer-than-it-appeared three strokes.

Over the summer, the 26-year-old left-hander was toiling on the Korn Ferry Tour, doing okay but going winless. That followed a good-but-hardly-great college career at Santa Clara. In late July, McCarty won the Price Cutter Charity Championship. Three weeks later, he won again. Two weeks after that came a third Korn Ferry title, earning an immediate promotion to the PGA Tour.

McCarty became the first golfer in almost two decades, since Jason Gore in 2005, to earn a so-called battlefield promotion to the PGA Tour and then win a tournament that same season. 

"It's been an unbelievable last few months for me," McCarty told reporters in Utah. "But just to like kind of play well today, that's all I wanted to do, give myself a chance. I knew it was going to be tough and a lot of different -- more emotion, more nerves than it's been out there.

"But, yeah, I'm really proud of how I was able to handle myself out there today, and honestly this whole week. I had a lot of fun."

It almost didn't end the way it did. The 54-hole leader, McCarty saw his lead shrink to one with a bogey on No. 12. But two holes later, he hit the shot of his life, a 3-wood on the 310-yard 14th to three and a half feet, before sinking the eagle putt for much-needed breathing room.

It ended up with McCarty's fourth win in his past 10 events, one that will put him in the Masters and PGA Championship next season, plus of course give him a PGA Tour card for the next two years. The Arizona native will also move into the top 50 in the world rankings for the first time, at No. 47.

McCarty is not a long hitter -- he ranked only 41st in the Black Desert field in driving distance. But he's very accurate off the tee and a great putter. In fact, he was the best putter on the KF Tour this season. And his distance is developing.

"Yeah, honestly my first year on Korn Ferry it was somewhat of a disadvantage like how far I was hitting it, so I made that a big focus the last couple years," McCarty said. "Honestly just I was kind of a late bloomer, so just filling out a little bit more, eating more. Started there.

"Working out. Started using the Stack System year and a half ago, so speed training stuff. But just putting more of an emphasis on it. I wanted to do it in a way where I feel like I wasn't losing accuracy and didn't want to change my swing."

There you have it, now you know a little bit about McCarty, someone who we'll all be hearing more about in the coming weeks and months. 

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Stephan Jaeger
Jaeger was already a top-50 player in the FedExCup Standings, so he had nothing to gain -- except money and experience. He got both. But he also needed to turn things around. He hadn't had a top-10 since his maiden win in Houston way back in March. Jaeger will continue on this week at the Shriners in Las Vegas.

Lucas Glover
Glover is having an excellent fall season, shooting a 9-under 62 on Sunday to zoom up the leaderboard to his second straight tie for third. After missing the playoffs, Glover recently talked of wanting to improve his diet and fitness to better compete with all the young, long hitters. It looks like it's working. 

Kevin Streelman
The veteran didn't have a top-25 all season so a tie for third was a welcome development, to say the least. Streelman zoomed from 177th in the point standings to 138th, making his attempt to get into the top 125 by season's end much more manageable.

Matti Schmid
Schmid began the week in the precarious position of No. 120 in points. After a solo fifth, thanks to a final-round 62, he's safely up to No. 105 and will keep his card for next year. It was Schmid's best finish of the season.

Harris English
English's season has been heavily front-loaded. He hadn't had a top-20 since the PGA Championship in May and had missed the cut in the first two fall events. He tied for sixth, keeping him inside the top 60 in points at No. 57. Nos. 50-60 at the end of the season automatically get into signature events at Pebble Beach and Riviera next year.

Joe Highsmith
Highsmith also tied for sixth, moving from 149th to 133rd in points, a decent position to try to crack the top 125. It was his second top-10 of 2024, with the other coming in the opposite-field Puerto Rico Open.

Henrik Norlander
Two players moved into the top 125 this week. McCarty was one of them and Norlander was the other. He tied for eighth to climb to 119th, not quite secure yet for next season but a lot better than on the outside looking in.

Carson Young
Young tied for 11th, a finish good enough to virtually lock up his card for next year. He moved from 118th in points to 113th.

Chris Kirk
Kirk was the highest-ranked player in the field. He tied for 35th. He's already a top-50 player in points, so there was nothing to be gained on that front.

Joel Dahmen
Dahmen is navigating some pretty dangerous territory as the season winds down. He's inside the top-125 but barely, falling one spot to 124th after a tie for 40th in Utah.

S.H. Kim
Like Dahmen, Kim is also walking a fine line, dropping from 119th in points to 123rd after tying for 64th.

MISSED CUTS

Taylor Montgomery, Michael Kim, Hayden Springer, Pierceson Coody and Michael Thorbjornsen were among the bigger names to miss. Montgomery and Kim both fell out of the top 125, to Nos. 128 and 129, respectively. … Springer is still inside, but at No. 120 after dropping five spots. … Coody dropped from 127th to 133rd. … Thorbjornsen fell from 126 to 131.