Red-hot rookie McCarty enters new realm
Black Desert winner makes the most of his Korn Ferry promotion, reaches Masters
A few months ago, Matt McCarty was not unlike numerous aspiring golfers who are trying to find their way in the professional game. Struggling here and there, good results mixed in with more bad ones, looking for some form and consistency that would lead to better days.
McCarty found it with a hot stretch that saw him win three tournaments in a six-week stretch on the Korn Ferry Tour this summer, which meant an automatic “battlefield” promotion to the PGA Tour, starting at the Sanderson Farms Championship.
A week later, he won the inaugural Black Desert Championship on Sunday by three shots.
His instant success on the FedEx Fall Series carries over from a whirlwind of three wins in 35 days from July and August on the Korn Ferry Tour. He broke his maiden in Springfield, Mo., on July 21, claiming his second three starts later in Omaha, Neb., and notching that critical third victory two starts later in Boise, Idaho, on Aug. 25.
That torrid six-week stretch made him the first player since 2021 and 13th ever to earn the automatic PGA Tour promotion for winning three times in a Korn Ferry Tour season, a perk that was created in 1997. It also pushed him from 27th on the season-long KFT points list before his first win to first at season’s end, which not only made him fully exempt on the PGA Tour in 2025 but booked him exemptions for the 2025 Players Championship and U.S. Open.
Now he can add Kapalua for the 2026 season-opening Sentry, a signature event, and Augusta for the Masters.
“I’m just really excited for all the opportunities that come with this and everything,” McCarty said after Sunday’s win in Utah. “This is what I’ve wanted to do. To be able to do it this quickly, to be able to play in all these tournaments I’m going to be able to play in coming up is going to be really special, so I am just really looking forward to that.”
McCarty — a Scottsdale, Ariz., native and resident — played five seasons at Santa Clara University (2016-21), earning three All-West Coast Conference honors including conference player of the year twice as well as two degrees (bachelor’s in finance, master’s in marketing). Since turning pro in 2021, he steadily improved on the developmental Korn Ferry, finishing 55th as a rookie in 2022, 35th in 2023 and then first in 2024.
Early in 2024, McCarty ranked 438th in the Official World Golf Ranking. He kept chipping away with consistent top-10 finishes to get to No. 275 before his winning streak started eating up chunks and moving him to 178th to 101st to 77th and now 48th after his maiden PGA Tour win in just his second official start as a member.
Playing in just his third-ever PGA Tour event — he qualified for the 2022 U.S. Open — McCarty hit his 3-wood to four feet on the drivable par-4 14th hole of the final round at Black Desert Resort in Utah to set up an eagle putt and give himself the cushion he needed to prevail over Stephan Jaeger and 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, who had posted a 62 earlier in the day.
McCarty shot a final-round 67 to win by three strokes. It was his fourth victory in his last 10 starts across the Korn Ferry and PGA tours.
“I knew if I played well this week after last week I would have a chance, but to do it like this, I don’t know how you can kind of expect this, to be honest,” the 26-year-old McCarty said Sunday. “I don’t know. It’s just a lot of fun and I’ve been working really hard and this year was great for me out there.
“To get out here a little early was just like — to get some experience was great and obviously this now. I mean, it’s just been a crazy last few months for me. It’s been a lot of fun.”
On Sunday, he held off more seasoned PGA Tour winners Glover, Jaeger, Kevin Streelman and Harris English to become the first player since Jason Gore in 2005 to win three times on the developmental tour and then on the PGA Tour in the same year. He didn’t flinch when his lead got trimmed to one shot on the back nine, stuffing a 3-wood to 4 feet on the drivable par-4 14th and hitting it close for another birdie on 16 to give himself a four-shot cushion.
“Simply just learn how to win,” McCarty said of his sizzling KFT summer that prepared him for last week. “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.
Jaeger, who won six times on the Korn Ferry Tour and captured the Houston Open earlier this year by a stroke over Scottie Scheffler, was impressed.
“To win three times out there in a pretty short season for them, it’s pretty incredible,” said Jaeger. “He’s obviously really talented. … 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.”
After missing the cut at a KFT event in North Carolina in June, McCarty made 12 straight cuts, including those three victories, a runner-up finish and two other top-fives.
McCarty opened the tournament with a 62 and remained in front with scores of 68 and 64 before his final-round 67. He spoke about just trying to enjoy the views in Utah but admitted that trying to close out the tournament was not going to be easy.
“I just think the level is higher out here,” he said before sleeping on the 54-hole lead. “Like you got to play well and probably even a little bit better to close it out. It’s the same thing. All the stuff that kind of comes on the other side of a win out here, of having the exemption for a couple years, getting in the Masters, stuff like that — it’s hard not to think about those things.
“But, yeah, it’s fun. This is what I’ve wanted to do, and to put myself in this chance so early, I’m just going to enjoy the opportunity. It’s going to be really difficult. ... If I play well, I’m confident I’ll be able to win. If not, you know, we’re just getting started, so ...”
McCarty went wire-to-wire and gave himself more than a great start to his PGA Tour career. Winning his second official start as a PGA Tour member, McCarty puts his name in some rare company. Jim Benepe, who won the 1988 Western Open, is considered the only player to win his first official PGA Tour start. Russell Henley won the 2013 Sony Open in his first PGA Tour start as a pro after competing in two U.S. Opens as an amateur. South Africa’s Garrick Higgo won the 2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree in his second start as a tour member.
In addition to now being exempt through the 2026 season, McCarty has earned spots in the Sentry, Players, Masters and U.S. Open. Sitting comfortably inside the top 100 at No. 48 in the OWGR, he is all but assured of as spot in the PGA Championship as well.
“To be able to play in the tournaments I’ve got coming up is really special,” said McCarty, who will be the 13th first-time starter at the 2025 Masters and brings the qualified field to 72 players.