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.
Winner: $1.35 million
2: $817,500
3: $517,500
4: $367,500
5: $307,500
6: $271,875
7: $253,125
8: $234,375
9: $219,375
10: $204,375
11: $189,375
12: $174,375
13: $159,375
14: $144,375
15: $136,875
16: $129,875
17: $121,875
18: $114,375
19: $106,875
20: $99,375
21: $91,875
22: $84,375
23: $78,375
24: $72,375
25: $66,375
26: $60,375
27: $58,125
28: $55,875
29: $53,625
30: $51,375
31: $49,125
32: $46,875
33: $44,625
34: $42,750
35: $40,875
36: $39,000
37: $37,125
38: $35,625
39: $34,125
40: $32,625
41: $31,125
42: $29,625
43: $28,125
44: $26,625
45: $25,125
46: $23,625
47: $22,125
48: $20,925
49: $19,875
50: $19,275
51: $18,825
52: $18,375
53: $18,075
54: $17,775
55: $17,625
56: $17,475
57: $17,325
58: $17,175
59: $17,025
60: $16,875
61: $16,725
62: $16,575
63: $16,425
64: $16,275
65: $16,125
66: $15,975
67: $15,825
68: $15,675
69: $15,525
70: $15,375
71: $15,225
72: $15,075
73: $14,925
74: $14,775
75: $14,625
76: $14,475
77: $14,325
78: $14,175
79: $14,025
80: $13,875
Josh Sens
Golf.com Editor
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.
