By Tom Zulewski, Iron County Today
IVINS – With a gentle, cooling breeze blowing softly around Black Desert Resort, Matt McCarty found an extra jolt of energy that pushed him to the front of the field at the right time through three rounds of the Black Desert Championship.
McCarty, a left-handed hitter who played his college golf at Santa Clara, started with a bogey, then reeled off a stretch of five straight birdies – including an eagle – before finishing with a 7-under 64 that was good for a two-shot lead over four others heading into the final round of the inaugural PGA Tour event.
Competing in only his second PGA tournament after a three-win promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour, McCarty had to finish his second round earlier in the morning before starting his third. In spite of the opening bogey at the par-4 first, McCarty didn’t take long to get back in the groove.
“I just kind of got hot a little bit, cooled off in the middle, and was able to make some nice pars. And the bogey on 10 was good,” McCarty said. “You just keep yourself in the fairway out here, and you can kind of have some chances. It was nice to make a few putts today as well.”
After starting the inward half of his round with a bogey at the 10th, McCarty wrapped up the round with birdies at 14, 16 and the par-5 18th, where he needed two putts from 26 feet to claim his two-shot edge over fellow lefty Joe Highsmith – who shot a 62 in the third round – Harris English and 47-year-old Kevin Streelman, who delivered the first tee shot and first birdie to start the tournament Thursday.
McCarty had all the support he would need from his dad, who made his presence known on the opening hole.
“He yelled at me at 1, so I knew right away. He’s hard to miss,” McCarty said. “He’s a big dude, and it’s always great having him out.”
Having grown up near Scottsdale, Arizona, McCarty admitted he’s gotten comfortable pretty quickly at Black Desert.
“It’s a very comfortable environment, just a cool place to be,” said McCarty, who sat down in the 15th fairway with his caddy for several minutes while waiting for the group ahead at the hole to finish.
McCarty will play his final round Sunday with Highsmith in the final pairing. Highsmith was happy for his round, but had to deal with some challenges toward the end.
“I felt great. It was certainly probably one of the best rounds I’ve ever played in my entire life golfing,” Highsmith said. “It got pretty hard on the back nine with some crosswinds.
“I’m not really trying to analyze it too much. Just kind of stay there and hopefully keep it going (Sunday).”
Harry Hall of England is alone in sixth place at 14-under following a 64 on Saturday.
Final-round play begins at 7:45 a.m. Sunday and Golf Channel will have live coverage of the final round of the Black Desert Championship starting at 3 p.m.
Caption
Chad Ramey sends an eagle putt toward the 18th hole during the third round of the Black Desert Championship on Oct. 12. Ramey made the birdie putt and finished with a 7-under par 64, sitting five strokes behind leader Matt McCarty.