On Thursday evening, if you’d offered Séamus Power a disappointing 72nd-hole par that would see him miss out on the top 10 by a single stroke, he’d have taken your hand off, but such was his form over the final three rounds, he’ll be left wondering what might have been were it not for a one-over opener that left him tied for 110th.
Birdies at the fifth and seventh holes took him to -2 on the day and -11 overall at the turn, and he added another on 12 to continue his climb up the leaderboard. Then, for the second time this week, he eagled the drivable par-4 14th and followed up with another birdie on 15 and this took him up to a provisional tie for eighth.
Three pars followed, but he’ll be disappointed not to have made it to -17 having put himself in prime position off the tee on the par-5 closing hole, but overall a T11 sees him climb up to 52nd in the FedEx Cup rankings and he’s now within touching distance of securing invitations to the Signature AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational at Riviera.
The big story of the week, however, was Korn Ferry graduate Matt McCarty who was making his third PGA Tour start having gained promotion as a three-time KFT winner in 2024.
McCarty took a two-stroke lead into the final round, and fired a four-under 67 for a three-stroke victory.
He became the first player since Jason Gore in 2005 to win on the PGA Tour in the same season as being promoted via the three-victory route.
“To do it like this, I don’t know how you can expect it,” he said. “It was a lot of fun and a pretty surreal moment.”
McCarty made an eagle and four birdies, dropping just two shots for a 23-under total of 261 which saw him finish three clear of Germany’s Stephan Jaeger, who posted a 68 for 20-under tally.
McCarty’s starting two stroke lead was maintained through 11 holes, but the first sign of a wobble came on 12 when he three-putted for bogey. He restored order with an eagle at the 14th, driving the ball to within four feet, and then birdied the 16th to push three clear.
Despite missing a short par putt on 17, he closed out with a birdie on 18 for the fourth straight day and earns an invitation to Augusta National in April along with a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour.
“It was good,” he said. “Hard fought – a lot of tough pins with the wind picking up. I was just able to get my spots well enough and kind of hang in there and have a lot of stress-free pars.”
US veteran Lucas Glover could easily have been the man at the top of the board come Sunday had his putter cooperated, but despite carding a final-round 62 that included nine birdies, he finished 60th in Strokes Gained Putting, losing almost three-strokes to the field. He finished tied for third with Kevin Streelman on -19.
Germany’s Matti Schmid had seven birdies and an eagle in a 62 that left him alone in fifth on 18-under 266.
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