Matt McCarty earns second win of season at Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse

When Matt McCarty won earlier this year at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper, his good friend who lives in Kansas City and his family drove over to Springfield top watch him lift the trophy. Omaha, Nebraska, is less than three hours from there, so when McCarty got himself in the mix this weekend, his friends hopped in the car again.

And then he won, again.

“I’m two for two with them – so I’ve got a good luck charm around me I guess right now,” McCarty said with a smile.

The Santa Clara University alum doesn’t, perhaps, need any luck these days. He’s on a tremendous summertime run on the Korn Ferry Tour and won the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse Sunday by one shot over 54-hole leader Danny Walker.

It’s McCarty’s second win of the season – and second in four weeks – and this week’s triumph moves him to the No. 1 spot on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List.

McCarty has been in the final or penultimate group on Sunday on the Korn Ferry Tour the last five weeks. It’s a good time for a good run.

“It's nice to just kind of play golf how I want to play golf and how I expect I can. It's not really like surprising to me, but it is nice just to keep putting myself in this position,” McCarty said. “Just to kind of keep being there and kind of just having opportunities, that's kind of what today was, too.

“But it's a lot of fun. That’s why we play.”

McCarty fired his third straight round of 4-under 67 at The Club at Indian Creek to finish at 14 under for the week. His plan Sunday was to get to 6 under for the day, which he did, but by his own admission, he “limped” home – making two bogeys in his final three holes. Still, it was good enough.

Walker shot a 1-over 72 to finish one shot back, missing a 23-footer for birdie on the final hole that would have sent the event into a playoff.

T.J. Vogel and Brandon Crick finished at 12 under and tied for third.

Quade Cummins, who could have earned enough Korn Ferry Tour Points to be declared #TOURBound if he finished in a two-way tie for fifth ended up in a three-way tie for fifth after birding three of his final four holes. So, he’ll have to wait for another week to stamp his TOUR ticket.

For McCarty, he’s had to pivot his goals as the last month-and-a-half has chugged along. It’s no surprise his main goal when the calendar turned was to get on the PGA TOUR but with his impressive results adding up (since the last week of June he’s gone T20-T5-first-T26-T2-first), things have changed.

“That (No.1 spot on the Points List) is really important out here, especially getting in the U.S. Open, THE PLAYERS and kind of be able to set your schedule,” McCarty said. “Kind of refocused towards that. I'm just glad I'm kind of keeping my head down and keep doing the same stuff and keep playing.

“That No. 1 spot – it’s a good opportunity for me to push towards that. To be able to get (the win) done was good. It’s all growth. I felt more comfortable out there today than even two or three weeks ago.”

McCarty knows that physically his golf may be the best it’s ever been. Mentally, now, he’s also taking things to another level. Three weeks ago his win in Springfield proved that he could win on this stage. This week in Omaha further proved that, without a shadow of a doubt.

McCarty is thrilled with how he’s been playing and the results are stacking up. Good luck charms in the gallery or not, it’s been a tidy summertime stretch on the Korn Ferry Tour – and there’s no reason why things could be slowing down any time soon.

“I know that I’m ready to compete out there on the PGA TOUR. This last month has shown me that,” McCarty said. “I think when it rains it pours, so it’s been nice to just keep it going.”

Additional notes

• Danny Walker (2nd/-13) entered the day with a three-shot lead but settled for runner-up after a final-round 1-over 72, marking a new career-best finish on the Korn Ferry Tour (previous best: 5th at 2023 Utah Championship).
  • With the runner-up, Walker climbed the Korn Ferry Tour Points List 36 spots from 67th to 31st.
• T.J. Vogel (T3/-12) recorded his first top-10 of the year and rose from No. 125 on the points list to No. 73.
  • Vogel’s T3 finish marked the second-best finish of his career on the Tour (162 total starts), only behind his maiden win at the 2022 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club.
• Brandon Crick (T3/-12), a native of McCook, Nebraska and University of Nebraska alum, carded a 1-under 70 and placed T3 to secure his second top-10 finish this year and rose to No. 29 on the points list.
• S.Y. Noh (T5/-11) posted his first top-10 finish of the year and climbs 24 spots from 94th to 70th on the points list.
• Thomas Rosenmueller (T5/-11) secured his third consecutive top-five finish and second straight T5.
  • A third-year member on the Korn Ferry Tour, Rosenmueller now sits No. 11 on the points list.
• Quade Cummins (T5/-8), No. 8 on the points list, logged his sixth top-10 finish of the season, tied for the most by any player; Cummins also leads all players on the Korn Ferry Tour this season with 12 top-25 finishes while no other player has more than nine.
• Ryan Blaum (8th/-10) and Taylor Dickson (T9/-9) tied for the low round of the day Sunday with 7-under 64s.
• Korn Ferry Tour rookie Austin Hitt (T9/-9) clinched his second consecutive top-10 finish after placing T5 at last week’s Utah Championship.
• In his first Korn Ferry Tour start of the year, Omaha native Scott Gutschewski (T21/-6) carded a final-round 3-under 68 and finished T21.
• Rookie Karl Vilips (T24/-5) posted his fifth-consecutive top-25 finish in his fifth career start on the Korn Ferry Tour.