Matt McCarty put in his time on the Korn Ferry Tour, making 75 starts over a three-year span from 2022 to 2024. It wasn’t until a few months ago, in July, when McCarty picked up his first victory. And then he won again in August. And then a third time two weeks later.
That third victory earned him the rare battlefield promotion to the PGA Tour, but McCarty played out the year on the Korn Ferry to secure the No. 1 spot in the season-long points race to earn exemptions into the 2025 Players Championship and U.S. Open.
But the 26-year-old pro wasted little time before winning on the big tour. In just his third career start (and second of the season) McCarty won the inaugural Black Desert Championship in Utah two weeks ago.
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That got him into the Masters, garnered a ton more press and led to him sitting down for several media interviews as he tried to unpack the whirlwind week in Utah. One of those came with Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz on GOLF’s Subpar podcast. McCarty joined this week to talk about his win, the afterparty, what he learned in three years on the Korn Ferry and more. He also answered one important question: After so many years on the development tour, what’s the one perk he’s loving on the PGA Tour?
“I think the courtesy car is the best thing,” McCarty said. “Just getting off the plane and having something ready for you, and you can just pick it up and not have to deal with the Avis app or wait in line, I think that’s pretty cool.”
McCarty said his first experience with this was back in 2022, when he qualified for the U.S. Open in Brookline, Mass.
“I grabbed my bags and there’s just a kid right there and he’s just like, ‘Here’s your brand new Lexus for the week,'” McCarty said. “I’m like alright, sweet, this will work.”
Of course, McCarty can buy his own Lexus these days. He won $1.35 million in Utah.
“Yeah, that’s crazy,” he said. “One of the first things they asked me right off the green after the tournament was, ‘How does this change things for you?’ Honestly, first of all, financially, a lot. I made the same amount of money in a week that I made in three years on the Korn Ferry, and that was a solid three years of growth and a lot of good golf as well. So that part is crazy.”
Although when asked if he’s made any big purchases so far, McCarty said he’s been sticking to the essentials.
“We’ve been kind of doing a lot in football season so far this year,” he said, “so I’m going to get a new couch and spend some time on it the next few weekends.”
You can listen to the entire podcast here, or watch the YouTube video below.
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