Matt McCarty shot a 64 on moving day and will enter Sunday’s finale of the Black Desert Championship in the lead on 19 under, two clear of a four-player logjam.
Entering the day in a tie for fourth, and two off the lead, the PGA Tour rookie got off to a rough start with a bogey on No. 1 at the Black Desert Resort. After two pars to settle down, though, McCarty shifted into high gear and reeled off five red numbers (birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie) on Nos. 4-8 to turn on 31. Another bogey to start to his second nine was offset by a birdie on 14. He closed with two more gains on Nos. 16 and 18 to reach the marquee at -19.
“Yeah, I mean, long day. A little tired,” said McCarty, who finished his second round on Saturday morning. “You know, watch whatever is left of the football today and just go to bed early.
“Feels good. I kind of didn’t get off to a great start. It’s kind of nice to have another range session to get it going again.
“Yeah, no, it was fun. Just kind of got hot a little bit, cooled off in the middle, and was able to make some nice pars. And the bogey on 10 was good.
“Yeah, then just finished with a couple and hit it well. You just keep yourself in the fairway out here, you can kind of have some chances. It was nice to make a few putts today as well.”
Joe Highsmith shot a low-round 62 and was among the foursome tied on 17 under. The Pepperdine alum signed for a scorecard featuring one bogey and 10 birdies, including four in a row on Nos. 7-10 and four more on his final six.
“I felt great, yeah,” said Highsmith, 24. “It was certainly probably one of the best rounds I’ve ever played in my entire life golfing. It got pretty hard on the back nine with some crosswinds.
“So, yeah, I mean, feeling great about it, but still (audio cutting out) come in a pretty focused place, so I’m not really trying to analyze it too much. Just kind of stay there and hopefully keep it going tomorrow.”
Others in the chasing pack, tied for second, included Kevin Streelman (63), Harris English (66) and Stephan Jaeger (68).
2024 Black Desert Championship
Round Three: Top 10 Scorers
Pos-Player-Score (Rd 3 Score)
1. Matt McCarty -19 (-7)
2. Joe Highsmith -17 (-9)
2. Kevin Streelman -17 (-8)
2. Harris English -17 (-5)
2. Stephan Jaeger -17 (-3)
6. Harry Hall -15 (-7)
7. Chad Ramey -14 (-7)
7. Kurt Kitayama -14 (-7)
7. Beau Hossler -14 (-5)
10. Max McGreevy -13 (-7)
10. Carl Yuan -13 (-5)
10. Henrik Norlander -13 (-1)
10. Ben Kohles -13 (E)
10. Adam Svensson -13 (E)
PGA Tour Communications post-round content used to compile report.
