McCarty was the unanimous choice for the Jack Nicklaus Award.
Matt McCarty was named the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year on Wednesday.
McCarty, 26, was the unanimous choice by members of the tour for the Jack Nicklaus Award, the PGA Tour announced.
McCarty was No. 1 on the tour’s points list after three wins and nine top-10s during the season. His three victories all came within a 35-day span from July to August. That made him the 13th KFT player to earn the Three Victory Promotion to the PGA Tour.
On the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, he had a scoring average of 68.38, setting a record. His finish at the top of the KFT points race earned him fully exempt status on the PGA Tour in 2025. He’s also in the field at the 2025 U.S. Open and the 2025 Players Championship.
The 2024 season has a chance to be one of more prolific for rookie winners in a while.
So far in 2024 on the PGA Tour, there are four rookie winners.
That eclipses the number of rookie champs for all of last season, when Ludvig Aberg (RSM Classic), Vincent Norrman (Barbasol Championship) and Nico Echavarria (Puerto Rico Open) found victory lane.
Two of those 2023 wins were opposite-field events. The first three in 2024 were “regular” Tour stops, with the fourth a FedEx Fall series tournament.
There were just two rookie winners in 2022 and one each during the 2021 and 2020 seasons. There were six in 2017, so 2024 has a chance to be one of more prolific years for rookies in a while.
Matt McCarty just keeps winning, no matter the tour.
Matt McCarty just keeps winning, no matter the tour.
The 26-year-old former Santa Clara University golfer smashed his drive within 3 feet of the hole at the drivable par-4, 14thgreen at Black Desert Resort to set up an eagle en route to posting a final-round 4-under 67 on Sunday and win the inaugural Black Desert Championship in Ivins, Utah.
“I knew if I played well this week after last week then I could maybe have a chance but to do it like this? I don’t know how you could expect this, to be honest,” he said.
McCarty won three times in a span of six events on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn a promotion to the PGA Tour and in just his second start in the big leagues, he returned to the winnerâs circle with a 72-hole total of 23-under 261 and a three-shot victory over Stephan Jaeger.
“Winning sometimes just seems like it kind of happens, especially lately,” McCarty said. “When it rains it pours right now for me.”
McCarty, who opened with a bogey-free 62, grabbed the lead with a third-round 64 and entered the final round with a two-stroke advantage. All week long, the left-hander reminded himself that if he could win on the Kerry Ferry Tour, why couldn’t he do the same on the PGA Tour? On Sunday, he experienced nerves just as he had during his previous trips to the winnerâs circle only this time they didn’t subside; they kept building, he said. It didn’t hurt that he added a birdie right out of the gate at the first and seventh before a bogey at No. 12 cut his lead to one stroke. But the eagle at 14 gave McCarty a three-stroke cushion and he tacked on two more birdies at Nos. 16 and 18, sandwiched between a three-putt bogey at 17 and cruised to his maiden title on the PGA Tour.
He became the first player since Jason Gore in 2005 to win three times on the Korn Ferry Tour and then on the PGA Tour in the same season. It was just his third career Tour start â he had previously played in the 2022 U.S. Open â and since 1970 only five players have won as quickly (or faster).
McCartyâs triumph at the Korn Ferry Tourâs Albertsons Boise Open in August secured him that circuitâs first Three-Victory Promotion in a year since Wesley Bryan in 2016, and just the 13th player to do so in the Tourâs 34-year history. Before his first start since his promotion last week at the Sanderson Farms Championship, he said, “it’s pretty surreal to be out here now. But at the same point, it’s very exciting. I’m ready for it.”
Indeed, he is. That’s a combined four victories in his last 10 starts.
“It’s just been a crazy last few months for me,” said McCarty, who also earned a spot in The Sentry, the Masters and the PGA Championship. “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.”
Jaeger, who held the 36-hole lead, failed to apply much heat on McCarty but did birdie three of the final six holes to shoot 68 and finished second.
“I didn’t drive it well enough to give myself shorter clubs in and ample opportunity for birdie,” Jaeger said. “To come back and birdie the last and end up finishing second is a big one for me.”
Lucas Glover made seven birdies in his first 10 holes and signed for 62 to post 19 under and tie with Kevin Streelman (69). Glover finish T-3 for the second straight week while Streelman recorded his first top-10 finish of the season.
âIf I’d have putted better the first three days I would’ve been right there,â Glover said.
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.
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 another gear on Saturday, firing a third-round 9-under 62 to jump into a tie for second at 17 under.
“It was certainly probably one of the best rounds I’ve ever played in my entire life golfing,” he told the media after signing his card. “It got pretty hard on the back nine with some crosswinds. So, yeah, I mean, feeling great about it ⌠I’m not really trying to analyze it too much. Just kind of stay there and hopefully keep it going tomorrow.”
Streelman looks for first win in 10 years
Kevin Streelman of the United States plays his shot from the 15th 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 Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Kevin Streelman left TPC River Highlands in 2014 as a two-time Tour winner. When he arrived at Black Desert Resort, he was still a two-time Tour winner.
He’ll have a chance to end his 10-year drought on Sunday after a stellar 8-under 63 that included nine birdies, seven of which came on the back nine. Streelman’s 28 coming home vaulted him up the leaderboard into a tie for second and he will tee off Sunday two shots off the lead.
“I had a great warmup,” he said. “The putter felt great all week. Didn’t get off to the start I wanted to today. I was a little disappointed on what I did on 2 flipping it into the rocks and was fortunate to get out of there with a bogey. Man, starting on 7 I kind of made a decision. That’s a tee shot where you got to keep it very straight. You are rewarded if you can hit a nice drive or a 3-wood, and I just smashed a 3-wood down there and hit a great 5-wood just short, pitched it to six feet, and felt like I was off and running.”
Streelman ranked sixth in Strokes Gained: Putting on Saturday, gaining over 2.5 shots on the field. If that continues during the final round, the Duke product will be tough to beat.
Fun fact of the day
At -19, Matt McCarty currently holds a two-shot clubhouse lead over Kevin Streelman and fellow left-hander Joe Highsmith at the Black Desert Championship. The last event with a left-handed winner and runner-up: 2018 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (Ted Potter, Jr., Phil Mickelson).
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