SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 3, 2024

Matt McCarty

Country Club of Jackson

Quick Quotes

Q. Your first round as a PGA TOUR member; how would you assess your round today?

MATT McCARTY: Yeah, it was good. I hit it well all day, so that was nice. Hit a lot of fairways, made it easy on myself out here. Nice to miss those couple putts on 11, but nice to kind of make some birdies after that and rebound quickly. Yeah, stayed in a good head space out there today and had fun and just enjoyed myself.

Q. You were playing with Harris English and Matt Kuchar. Did you take anything from them throughout your round, and were you talking about anything throughout the round?

MATT McCARTY: Yeah, honestly, they were just super nice and very great to me today. They were talking about some football out there and stuff. Just pretty chill. It was good vibes, and it was fun. It was nice to see those guys just go about their business. Obviously both of them have been doing it a long time. It's just kind of any other day for them, and it kind of felt the same for me, which was helpful.

Q. You put together a solid round, 6-under heading into the second round. What can we expect the rest of this tournament from you and the rest of this PGA TOUR start?

MATT McCARTY: I think just want to continue playing good golf. It was nice to go out today and continue playing like I had been playing. A little different environment, but golf is still golf, and it was nice to hit it well. Hopefully I can drive it this well and make it easy on myself out here. But it was nice. It was a lot of fun. Just looking forward to the next three days. Still a long way to go, obviously, but it was good.

Q. Were there any nerves at any point, and if so, how did you settle in and get comfortable?

MATT McCARTY: Yeah, I kind of gave myself a three- or four-footer on the first hole, which is a little nervy, but made that, and I think just hitting it well and being in the fairways, hitting a lot of greens kind of settles you down quickly. If you're scrambling all over the place sometimes it's a lot tougher. It's always easier when you make a birdie before a bogey, so I think that was nice for me today.

Q. You have a lot of great things on your resume, but I think before the promotion you definitely flew under the radar a little bit. Now there's a lot more attention, demands of your time. Does that attention validate what you've been working on, or does it add more pressure do you feel?

MATT McCARTY: I think it's validating for sure, and honestly it's a lot more fun to be talking to you guys than not, I guess. But it's just been good. It's nice to have the good play be rewarded with some stuff, I guess. It's just fun to be out here, new opportunities, and just taking those experiences as they come has been great.

Q. How have you been able to in the last couple of days handle all of the extra stuff that comes with the PGA TOUR while not getting outside of yourself and your routine?

MATT McCARTY: Yeah, I think I noticed definitely after Tuesday and yesterday just kind of how tired I was and the little more effort that goes into early in the week out here, and obviously my third year on the Korn Ferry, my prep, seeing the courses a lot, has been a little easier this year for me, so obviously coming here for the first time and having to do a little bit more work beforehand, that's more that goes into that.

But I think it's good to kind of realize that and learn from that as I move forward into this fall and definitely next year, as well.