If you don’t know the name Matt McCarty, it’s time to get familiar.
In August, McCarty became the 13th player since 1997 to earn the Korn Ferry Tour’s Three-Victory Promotion, immediately making him eligible for the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Fall. He won the Price Cutter Charity Championship in July and both the Pinnacle Bank Championship and Albertsons Boise Open in August. Following his T-63 finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship, McCarty is 19 under and the 54-hole leader at the 2024 Black Desert Championship in Utah.
The 26-year-old from Scottsdale, Arizona, bogeyed his first hole of the day but caught fire before the turn, birdieing Nos. 4-6 and 8 while adding an eagle at the par-5 seventh. The 5-under 31 put him a shot clear of Stephan Jaeger — winner of the Texas Children’s Houston Open earlier this season — at the time.
On his way back to the clubhouse, McCarty bogeyed the 10th but birdied three of his final five holes to solidify his position atop the leaderboard.
What did his tremendous season on the Korn Ferry Tour teach him?
“Simply just learn how to win,” he said. “The experience of being in contention out there, I think it’s very similar to kind of what I felt today, and honestly helped me just kind of feel a little bit calmer about it. But, yeah, it definitely all kind of builds upon itself. You know, the last three months have been great in order to kind of get to that spot. Really excited for tomorrow.”
The only player to earn the Three-Victory Promotion and win on Tour in the same season was Jason Gore in 2005 at the 84 Lumber Classic.
McCarty will start Sunday with a two-shot advantage.
Here are a few more notes from a busy day in the Beehive State.
Black Desert: Leaderboard
Big moves from The Bucket
Joe Highsmith of the United States plays his shot from the third tee during the third round of the Black Desert Championship 2024 at Black Desert Resort on October 12, 2024 in St George, Utah. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
Joe Highsmith had a tough year. Before the FedEx Cup Fall, the bucket-hat-wearing 24-year-old missed 13 cuts across 20 starts and finished inside the top 25 just three times. However, he’s found his game a bit since the fall session kicked off last month.
The Pepperdine product tied for 13th at the Procore Championship and for 55th at the Sanderson Farm Championship. And through 54 holes of the Black Desert, Highsmith is firmly in the mix.
After rounds of 66-68, Highsmith turned it to…
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