Matt McCarty named 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR announced Wednesday that Matt McCarty has won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year. McCarty, a 26-year-old Scottsdale, Arizona, native, was the unanimous winner of the award as voted by Korn Ferry Tour membership.

McCarty, who recently completed his third season on the Tour, finished No. 1 on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List off the strength of three wins and six additional top-10 finishes. Eight of McCarty’s nine top 10s were top-five finishes. By virtue of his No. 1 finish on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, McCarty earned fully exempt status for the 2025 PGA TOUR season, as well as exemptions for the 2025 U.S. Open and 2025 PLAYERS Championship.

McCarty made 25 starts throughout the 26-event season and posted a 68.38 scoring average, breaking the Korn Ferry Tour record for the lowest single-season scoring average by a player with at least 60 rounds played. McCarty, who played 92 rounds on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024, broke the record previously established by Will Zalatoris (68.44, 64 rounds, 2020-21) and Justin Suh (68.44, 90 rounds, 2022). McCarty also led the Korn Ferry Tour in putting average (1.69).

McCarty’s three wins all came within a 35-day span from July to August, propelling him to the top spot on the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour Points List. McCarty’s victory at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Hiland Dairy Foods (July 21) marked his first career Korn Ferry Tour victory in what was his 68th start. Over his next five starts, McCarty earned his second and third career victories at the Pinnacle Bank Championship presented by Woodhouse (Aug. 11) and Albertsons Boise Open presented by Chevron (Aug. 25).

By virtue of his three wins during the 2024 season, McCarty became the 13th player in Korn Ferry Tour history to achieve the Three-Victory Promotion, granting him an immediate promotion to the PGA TOUR and eligibility for 2024 FedExCup Fall events.

McCarty made his debut as a 2024 PGA TOUR member at the Sanderson Farms Championship, where he made his first career cut to finish T65. One week later in his third career start on TOUR, McCarty earned his first TOUR win at the Black Desert Championship, marking his fourth PGA TOUR-sanctioned victory of the 2024 season. McCarty joined Jason Gore (2005, 84 Lumber Classic) as the only player to earn three Korn Ferry Tour wins and a PGA TOUR win in the same season.

Eight of the last 10 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year winners went on to win on the PGA TOUR. Four of those eight – McCarty, Stephan Jaeger (2020-21), Scottie Scheffler (2019) and Patton Kizzire (2015) – earned TOUR wins in 2024.

Winners of the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year: Matt McCarty (2024), Ben Kohles (2023), Justin Suh (2022), Stephen Jaeger (2020-21), Scottie Scheffler (2019), Sungjae Im (2018), Chesson Hadley (2017), Wesley Bryan (2016), Patton Kizzire (2015), Carlos Ortiz (2014), Michael Putnam (2013), Casey Wittenberg (2012), J.J. Killeen (2011), Jamie Lovemark (2010), Michael Sim (2009), Brendon de Jonge (2008), Nick Flanagan (2007), Ken Duke (2006), Jason Gore (2005), Jimmy Walker (2004), Zach Johnson (2003), Patrick Moore (2002), Chad Campbell (2001), Spike McRoy (2000), Carl Paulson (1999), Bob Burns (1998), Chris Smith (1997), Stewart Cink (1996), Jerry Kelly (1995), Chris Perry (1994), Sean Murphy (1993), John Flannery (1992), Tom Lehman (1991), Jeff Maggert (1990).