Seamus Power shot a three-under 68 on day three of the PGA Tour’s Black Desert Championship in Utah, but it’s recent Korn Ferry graduate Matt McCarty who’s stealing the show and is closing in on a PGA Tour win in just his second start.
Power was well outside the cutline after carding a one-over 72 on day one, but a thrilling 64 on day two saw him surging up the leaderboard and while he couldn’t quite replicate the fireworks on moving day, he climbs an additional spot thanks to a strong back nine on Saturday.
Power actually began his third round on the 10th, and was a little shaky early on, making back-to-back bogeys on 12 and 13, gaining a shot back on 14, then immediately surrendering it with a third bogey on 15, leaving him on +2 for the day through eight and sliding down the leaderboard.
There was nothing shaky about his final 10 holes, however, and birdies on 18, two, four, five and seven helped turn the day around and he heads into the final round tied for 36th at -9.
But it’s McCarty who is the big story of the week. Having won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour, McCarty received an instant battlefield promotion to the PGA Tour and made his Tour debut at the Sanderson Farms Championship last week and made the cut but finished T63.
A week later, he’s just 18 holes away from earning an invitation to Augusta National in April thanks to a seven-under 64 that saw him post 19-under and take a two-stroke lead into the final round.
“I think it’s just very comfortable environment being back in the desert,” said McCarty, who hails from Scottsdale, Arizona, so is no stranger to desert golf himself. “Just like the views and like it’s just a cool place to be. Cool place to play well, also.”
Despite starting both nines with a bogey, it was a five-hole stretch from the fourth that separated him from the field as he made four birdies and an eagle to cover the five in -6.
A two-putt birdie on 18 increased the cushion by an additional stroke, and he admitted that it’s going to be tough to focus on the job at hand and not get too far ahead of himself.
“All the stuff that kind of comes on the other side of a win out here, of having the exemption for a couple years, getting in the Masters, stuff like that,” McCarty said. “It’s hard not to think about those things.”
Joe Highsmith, Kevin Streelman, Stephen Jaeger and Harris English form a four-man chasing party two strokes back at -17, while England’s Harry Hall is in solo sixth at -15.