Matt McCarty clinches Korn Ferry Tour No. 1, qualifies for THE PLAYERS, U.S. Open

COLUMBUS, Ohio – After earning a Three-Victory Promotion to the PGA TOUR, Matt McCarty returned to the Korn Ferry Tour for some unfinished business. He wanted the spots in the U.S. Open and THE PLAYERS Championship that come with the No. 1 position on the season-long standings.

Mission accomplished. McCarty, 26, finished tied for fifth at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, the Korn Ferry Tour Finals’ third leg, to secure the top spot. McCarty holds a 651-point lead over No. 2 Max McGreevy into the season-ending Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance, where the winner will earn 600 Korn Ferry Tour points. Hence, McCarty cannot be passed for the No. 1 spot.

“It means a lot,” McCarty said Sunday in central Ohio. “I played great the last couple months, but the whole year as well. There’s a good list of names that have done it in the past, so it’s pretty special to join a lot of those guys for sure.”

McCarty, who played collegiately at Santa Clara, caught fire this summer with three wins in a six-event span, becoming the first player to earn three Korn Ferry Tour titles in a single year since Wesley Bryan in 2016. The Arizona native could’ve started his TOUR career at last week’s Procore Championship, but he stuck to the Korn Ferry Tour, intent on cementing the No. 1 spot. He finished T35 at last week’s Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation, then notched his eighth top-five finish of the season this week at the Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course. It was plenty to keep his distance on McGreevy, who finished T23 at the Nationwide, and his Korn Ferry Tour peers at large.

After falling short of a PGA TOUR card in his first two Korn Ferry Tour seasons, 2022 and 2023, everything came together for McCarty in 2024 – and the perks are plentiful. He’ll be fully exempt on the 2025 PGA TOUR with spots in two of the season’s biggest events.

“Coming up short last year, I think everything happens for a reason, and to have this season to grow as a player and learn how to win some events, I think is good and will be very helpful for me going out there next year.”

This year, McCarty was pleased just to be exempt into U.S. Open Final Qualifying, he quipped Sunday. Next year, he’ll have direct access to the main event at Oakmont – the fruit of a dominant season on professional golf’s premier pathway circuit, as he joins the likes of 2019 season-long champion Scottie Scheffler as Korn Ferry Tour No. 1s.