Matt McCarty, a three-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour, is looking for his first PGA Tour title.
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Against the redrock backdrop of southern Utah, Matt McCarty is playing for a lot of green.
With a 7-under 64 on Saturday, the 26-year-old from Scottsdale seized the lead heading into today’s final round of the Black Desert Championship, at Black Desert Resort, in Ivins, UT. A three-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour who is looking for his first PGA Tour victory, McCarty begins the day at 19-under par. Four players—Joe Highsmith, Kevin Streelman, Harris English and Stephen Jaeger—are tied for second, two shots back.
The tournament is the first PGA Tour event to be held in Utah since 1963, and it got underway with a homegrown hero in the field. Jay Don Blake, the 65-year-old Tour veteran and St. George native, made his 500th tour start, playing on a sponsor’s exemption. He missed the cut, leaving Zac Blair as the only golfer from Utah to make the weekend. Blair enters Sunday’s final round at 6-under, in a tie for 59th.
The winner will take home a first-place check of $1.35. Here’s how the rest of the $7.5 million purse will pay out.
A golf, food and travel writer, Josh Sens has been a GOLF Magazine contributor since 2004 and now contributes across all of GOLF’s platforms. His work has been anthologized in The Best American Sportswriting. He is also the co-author, with Sammy Hagar, of Are We Having Any Fun Yet: the Cooking and Partying Handbook.