Rookie Matt McCarty sealed a maiden victory on the PGA TOUR following promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour with a three-shot victory at the inaugural Black Desert Championship in Utah.
The 26-year-old American, who gained promotion from the development Korn Ferry Tour in August after three victories, entered the final round at the Black Desert Resort two shots clear and kept his cool at the top of the leaderboard, with an eagle two on the par-four 14th the key hole. He went onto card a four-under 67 in the final round to pull away from nearest challenger Stephan Jaeger of Germany.
As a result, McCarty has now secured his place at next year’s Masters and PGA Championship, having already cemented a spot at the U.S. Open by leading the Korn Ferry Tour points list.
“It’s been an unbelievable last few months for me,” said McCarty.
“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.”
This accomplishment makes him the first player since Jason Gore in 2005 to secure three wins on the Korn Ferry Tour and then claim a victory on the PGA TOUR in the same season.
American duo Kevin Steelman and Lucas Glover finished tied-third on 19 under.
The event is the newest addition to the FedExCup Fall series and was the first time a PGA TOUR event has been held in Utah since 1963.
What is the next event?
The next event on the PGA TOUR schedule is the Shriners Children’s Open taking place between 17-20 October at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.