The secret behind this PGA Tour breakout star is simpler than it looks

It’s safe to say that 26-year-old Matt McCarty is playing the best golf of his career.

Just three months ago, McCarty was grinding on the Korn Ferry Tour, hoping to carve a path to the Big Show. He had posted a few close-calls — T3 in March at the Astara Chile Classic, T4 in May at the AdventHealth Championship, T5 in July at the Ascendant — but was still vying for his first Korn Ferry title.

Then, it happened. One week after his T5 finish, McCarty won the Price Cutter Charity Classic with rounds of 65-67-65-66. Two weeks later, he was runner-up at the Utah Championship. A week after that, McCarty won for the second time at the Pinnacle Bank Championship. And two weeks after that, he won for a third time at the Albertsons Boise Open, automatically punching his ticket to the PGA Tour.

McCarty finished the 2024 Korn Ferry season as the tour’s top performer, earning more than $1 million.

But his story gets even better. In just his second event as a PGA Tour member, McCarty won his maiden PGA Tour title at the Black Desert Championship. For those keeping track, that made four wins across two tours in less than three months. Whew!

How did McCarty do it? The Scottsdale, Ariz. resident joined Subpar hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz to explain how his experience on the Korn Ferry Tour laid the foundation for his quick success on the PGA Tour.

“I played a lot of good golf last year as well,” McCarty said. “I was close to getting my card. Finished like 35th, and in Indiana for the final event, was leading the event through 53 holes.

“So on 18, made like an 8. Up until that point, had played the last nine holes in seven under, probably the best round of golf I’d played up until that point, given what was on the line with the tour card that week and everything,” he continued. “But, you know, to kind of make some mistakes and feel that pressure and understand the difference in how the club feels in your hands and how quick everything can move sometimes. I mean, it all kind of builds up. And it’s been a lot of fun this year to put myself in that situation a lot more and honestly be able to kind of perform while feeling those things as well.”

McCarty said spending an extra year on the Korn Ferry Tour also helped him feel more prepared for the PGA Tour.

“I think everything happens for a reason in the sense that, like, you know, I played solid this year to start,” McCarty said. “I was in the Bahamas on the Korn Ferry, not playing that great. And early in the spring, playing some good golf but nothing great. But out there on the Korn Ferry, being my third year, was okay. I’m comfortable with the courses. I knew things were moving in the right direction.

But you know, you’re getting started on Tour and you miss a couple of cuts early, and things start moving faster,” he continued. “You’re not getting in as many events. Who knows how this year would have gone out there for me too.

“So, it all happens for a reason, and everything’s, like, a learning element to it and you kind of got to take advantage of what opportunities are coming and just try to keep your head down and playing golf and stay patient, honestly.”

For more from McCarty, including how he celebrated his win in Las Vegas, check out the full episode of Subpar below.

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