Matt McCarty secures win at Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper with three-stroke win over Tommy Gainey

Matt McCarty learned lessons in seven short days that were plentiful and impactful. And by the time the sun started to descend Sunday afternoon in Missouri, there was one important phone call to make – to dad – with tears on the other end. Tears that came because McCarty was #TOURBound.

McCarty, a Santa Clara University alum, was firmly in the mix last week at The Ascendant presented by Blue before a final-round 75 derailed his chances for a maiden Korn Ferry Tour title.

Alas, a steady week tee-to-green (McCarty hit more than 80% of his greens this week) saw the 26-year-old fire weekend rounds of 65-66 to win the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper by three shots. McCarty carded 25-under 263 at Highland Springs Country Club in Springfield, Missouri, three strokes clear of Tommy Gainey.

With the win, McCarty moves from No. 22 to No. 7 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List – crossing the fail-safe threshold to earn a PGA TOUR card for the first time.

Cue the most important phone calls of his life.

“I called and talked to my girlfriend walking off the green, she's been awesome, so supportive and just amazing. Then called my dad and could hear him tearing up. He was with us last week, so he rode the tough heartbreak with us. Then my mom was the exact same way,” McCarty said. “I’ve got a lot more calls to make, but those are the first three most important, so it was great.”

McCarty has played just one PGA TOUR event in his career so far, qualifying for the 2022 U.S. Open. This week marked his 68th Korn Ferry Tour start. He had three previous top-10 finishes this season and was riding the wave of his best golf of the season, having made five straight cuts and notching four top-20 results. Despite the final-round struggle last week, he still finished tied for fifth.

“It feels really good especially after last week,” McCarty said. “Just played great out there all week and really solid today, last week as well. It's been kind of an up-and-down season for me; it's great to finally get one and take advantage of the day. It was awesome.”

McCarty admitted the continuation of his fine play from a week ago into this week was easy. He wanted to keep doing the same sort of thing and in this game – especially on the Korn Ferry Tour through the summertime sprint – there’s no use in overcomplicating things.

He turned in 4-under 32 on Sunday and was bogey-free the rest of the way. There wasn’t much in the way of challengers Sunday in the Ozarks, with Gainey finishing second at 22 under and a foursome of players tied for third at 21 under – Taylor Dickson (who also clinched his first TOUR card for 2025), Sam Bennett, Noah Goodwin and Mark Goetz.

McCarty said he wanted to continue to stay within himself after last week. Doing lots right got him right back to the same position again heading into the weekend.

“I think subconsciously learned a lot from last week. Really tried today to do the same thing. I didn't have any regrets from last week. Sometimes it's really hard to win golf tournaments,” McCarty said. “There are 156 guys that are really good playing every week. Just tried to do more of the same and it was nice to kind of put it together today, for sure.”

Sometimes just “doing the same stuff” is much easier said than done. But McCarty made it happen in spades this week.

“I was playing probably some of the best golf I ever played (last week), so I was hoping it would come this quick, but I think that was a big thing – I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself kind of like I did last week,” McCarty said.

“In every aspect (year over year) I’ve grown. Just simple things from traveling and learning how to approach the week and just understanding how much four rounds is and how many shots we hit over the course of a season – just not beat yourself up over some bad ones. It doesn’t take perfect golf to prove to myself that not only do I belong out here but belong on the PGA TOUR.”

So, McCarty will head to the PGA TOUR thanks to his win in Springfield, Missouri, at one of the Korn Ferry Tour’s four original events, dating to 1990. Reflecting back what he would have told a much younger version of himself, he pointed to the fact that golf is all about ups and downs. Going through those downs makes the ups that much sweeter, though.

And there’s nothing sweeter than being #TOURBound.

Emotional phone calls and all.

“It hasn't settled in yet. I proved to myself, I knew this year that I could do it, but actually doing it is something completely different,” McCarty said. “It feels really good, really good. Yeah, it's a special, special day, special week and I'll remember this for probably the rest of my life.”

Final-round notes

• McCarty becomes the 13th first-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour this season (there were only 10 first-time winners all of last season).
• McCarty becomes the seventh player on Tour this season to convert a 54-hole lead/co-lead into a victory; the 20th player in the history of the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper to win after holding the 54-hole lead/co-lead.
• Two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Taylor Dickson (T3/-21), who moves to No. 5 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, is #TOURBound with his third top-10 finish of the season, securing his first PGA TOUR card; Dickson carded a final round bogey-free 5-under 67, making birdies on Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 12.
• PGA TOUR winner Tommy Gainey (2nd/-22) posts a final-round 4-under 68 to finish runner-up, logging his first top-five and second top-10 finish of the season (T9/Veritex Bank Championship); Gainey cracks the top-five on the Korn Ferry Tour for the first time since the 2021 BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX (T5).
• Korn Ferry Tour rookie Sam Bennett (T3/-21) notches his best career finish on Tour with a T3 (previous; 7th/Veritex Bank Championship), marking his fourth top-10 of the season; Bennett turned in a 4-under 68 in the final round with five birdies (Nos. 2, 7, 11, 12, 15) against one bogey (No. 10).
• 54-hole co-leader Mark Goetz (T3/-21) – who carded a 9-under 63 in the third round for the lowest score of his career – finishes T3 for the best result of his career and first top-10 finish in what is his 18th start on Tour.
• Noah Goodwin (T3/-21), who made his 38th career start on Tour this week, records his fifth top-10 of the year and the best finish on the Korn Ferry Tour with a T3 (previous; T4/2024 LECOM Suncoast Classic; T4/2023 Compliance Solutions Championship).
• Sweeden’s Tim Widing (T7/-21), who was the first player to be declared #TOURBound this season, reclaims the No. 1 spot on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List from Steven Fisk with his fifth top-10 finish of the year; Fisk overtook Widing for the No. 1 spot on the points list at the Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS after Widing had stood at No. 1 for two-plus months after back-to-back wins at the LECOM Suncoast Classic and Veritex Bank Championship.
• Nick Gabrelcik (T7/-20), who finished No. 5 in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Rankings, cards a 6-under 66 to log his best career finish in his sixth start on the Korn Ferry Tour as a professional with a T7 (previous; T31/ Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas Wichita Open Benefitting KU Wichita Pediatrics).
• First-year member Yi Cao (T7/-21), who earned Korn Ferry Tour membership for the first time this season with a No. 5 finish on the 2023 Fortinet Cup points list on PGA TOUR Canada (now PGA TOUR Americas), posts a bogey-free 5-under 67 in the final round to finish T7 for the best result of his career (previous; T29/Veritex Bank Championship).
• Karl Vilips (T15/-18), who finished No. 10 in the 2024 PGA TOUR University Rankings, plays himself into next week’s NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank with his second consecutive top-25 finish this week; the Stanford product earned a start this week with a T13 finish at The Ascendant presented by Blue.