Dan McCarthy, 39, who once took down Scottie Scheffler, makes first PGA TOUR cut

Upstate New York native Dan McCarthy has played professional golf for nearly 20 years, collecting dozens of trophies across several circuits, some well-known and others not as known. He once took down Scottie Scheffler on the Korn Ferry Tour, and he once won four PGA TOUR Canada titles in an 11-event span.

Saturday at the Shriners Children’s Open, McCarthy authored a new career-first. Playing on a sponsor exemption, McCarthy, 39, made his first cut on the PGA TOUR. The Le Moyne College alum opened the week in 70-66 at TPC Summerlin, playing most of his second round on Saturday morning after heavy winds delayed Friday’s play for four hours.

McCarthy stood at 6-under 136 through 36 holes, three strokes inside the cut line, seven strokes behind co-leaders J.T. Poston and Matti Schmid in Sin City. That’s extensive ground to cover, but in a sport where the mini-victories are so important, consider McCarthy one of this week’s defined winners.

“It’s huge,” McCarthy said Saturday. “I haven’t had that many opportunities (on TOUR), but I just tried to treat it like any other golf tournament. I’ve played a lot on the Korn Ferry Tour and (PGA TOUR Canada) over the years … I was fortunate to go out and play well today.

“I usually play pretty well in the wind. Excited isn’t the right word, to see that it was going to blow 30 mph, but some of my best tournaments that I’ve had in my career have been in horrendous conditions.”

McCarthy has made 159 career starts on the Korn Ferry Tour, including a victory at the 2019 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club, where he played alongside Scheffler in Sunday’s final group and clipped the now-world No. 1 by a stroke. Earlier this fall, McCarthy said that he often looks back to that day whenever he needs a pick-me-up, reinforcement to keep going in a profession that can be so cruel. He remembers Scheffler’s graciousness in defeat, despite missing a short-range birdie putt to force a playoff, giving McCarthy a hug and appearing genuinely happy for him.

While Scheffler appeared on “ESPN’s College GameDay” in his Masters green jacket Saturday morning, McCarthy picked a good time to find strong form, carding five birdies on his second nine to ascend from the cut line into the middle of the pack. McCarthy is amidst a three-month Korn Ferry Tour offseason, aside from PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry (he’s exempt to Second Stage), where the top five and ties after Final Stage will earn 2025 PGA TOUR membership.

McCarthy is grateful just to have a job assured for next season; he entered last month’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the final event to determine Korn Ferry Tour top-75 exempt status, at No. 87 on the season-long standings (he needed to finish top-85 just to bypass Q-School’s First Stage, too). McCarthy finished T7 at the Ohio State University Golf Club, a season-best showing, to move to No. 68 and keep full status for 2025. Various injuries had made things a struggle in recent years, and McCarthy admitted it had been a few years since he felt that sort of pressure, the type that professional golfers tend to crave.

He felt it again Saturday morning in a new way, fighting to make his first cut on the PGA TOUR. He had made four prior TOUR starts, including two U.S. Opens, but had yet to advance to the weekend.

Regardless of how his career unfolds, McCarthy can now say he has cashed a PGA TOUR paycheck. (And he gets to keep that knowledge of beating Scheffler in his back pocket, as well.)

“I’ve won a lot of tournaments, but I’ve also screwed up a lot too,” McCarthy said. “I’ve probably learned more from the screw-ups … but I’ve been in a lot of pressure-packed situations, including a couple weeks ago at Ohio State … there’s a tremendous about of pressure in that alone right there. Maybe first-tee jitters yesterday, but nothing compared to what I had the final round in Columbus a few weeks ago.

“I’ve just tried to play relaxed and play free, and I was able to do a pretty good job of that the last couple days.”