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-4,14th green 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.
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 since then, he returned to the winner’s circle with a 72-hole total of 23-under 262 and a three-shot victory over Stephan Jaeger.
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. On Sunday, he added a birdie 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 and 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.
McCarty’s triumph at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Albertsons Boise Open in August secured him that circuit’s first Three-Victory Promotion in a year since Wesley Bryan in 2016, and just the 12th player to do so in the Tour’s 34-year history.
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.
Lucas Glover made seven birdies in his first 10 holes and signed for 62 to tie for third with Kevin Streelman (69). Both veterans recorded their best finish of the season.
“If I’d have putted better the first three days I would’ve been right there,” Glover said.