Desert Mountain Alum Matt McCarthy Debuts on WM Phoenix Open – Cronkite News

The former Desert Mountain High School Golfer Matt McCarthy had the opportunity to play the course he had ever used to bring standards as a student at the WM Phoenix Open High School. (Photo by Giuliano Moller/Cronquit News)

Arizona Golf Jose Luis Baster follows the second green. His gallery included a lot of ASU fans, excited to see him in TPC Scottsdale on Thursday. (Photo by Giuliano Moller/Cronquit News)

Scottie driver and Tom Kim pass through the third hole bridge on Thursday of WM Phoenix Open. (Photo by Giuliano Moller/Cronquit News)

Scottie Scheffler gives up # 4 a lot to the thrill of the Grand Gallery, which followed him all day. Schaeffler entered the tournament as player # 1 in the world. (Photo by Giuliano Moller/Cronquit News)

Ricky Fowler’s beloved crowd has been fighting most of the day and had two spells and a double wizard of the previous nine. (Photo by Danny Trujilo/Kronkite News)

Arizona’s state product Jose Luis Balester publishes two birds on the front nine of WM Phoenix Open Open Friday. (Photo by Danny Trujilo/Kronkite News)

Jordan Spaith had a strong first round of WM Phoenix Open, recorded four birds and only one neighborhood. (Photo by Danny Trujilo/Kronkite News)

Scottsdale – Matt McCarthy complies with WM Phoenix Open standards as a high school student. After taking on an unorthodox route to PGA Tour in 2024, WM Phoenix opened the Ninth McCarty tour of 2025, in his hometown of Scotsdale.

“Really excited and obviously growing here, (I) I know the course really good,” said McCarthy, a native of Scottsdale, on Wednesday.

After the front nine up and down, McCarthy finished strong in the opening round on Thursday, posting birds of three of his last five holes to finish 1-off.

The Desert Mountain School graduate appeared on the PGA Tour in January 2024 at the extremely exclusive Sentry Open in Hawaii. In order to play in Sentry, the PGA Tour Golfers has to win a tour or end in the top 50 on the FedExcup Points list the previous season. However, McCarthy appeared because he won three promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour promotion, which led to an automatic promotion in PGA.

Quickly forward just over a year, McCarthy can also play in his backyard. He thinks about how surreal the experience has been so far.

“I’m not crazy removed from … I want balls and golf gloves and whatever it is,” McCarthy said. “So every time I can do it and see a smile (face of a child) is really cool for sure.”

Ricky Fowler awaits her turn on the fourth troic as she showed her colorful clothing on Thursday at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo by Giuliano Moller/Cronquit News)

As a young standards carrier, McCarthy dreamed of entering Thunderdome, which is the 16th PHOENIX Open hole as a player. The experience this week is different from what the 27-year-old youth of the tournament is used to.

“It will be something different to go out here and have no bunch of beers over the weekend and everything,” he said. “It was like our local tournament, so I just thought golf was always like that. This fun atmosphere, I think it’s great for the game, honestly, so I’m just really excited to be here. ”

His mother, Diana, said his role in WM Phoenix Open 2025 was preferable when he was a college child drinking in the crowd.

He even admitted that he was not innocent of one of the oldest sins the fan could commit on WM Phoenix Open: Smoking at 16.

The appearance of McCarthy at his local tournament came with some additional requirements, especially for ticket demands.

“There was quite a few,” he said. “However, the tour took good care of me, so we got enough for everyone and it would be nice to have many people on my side and make a bunch of birds and make everyone go.”

To achieve this to make a bunch of birds, McCarthy tries to take advantage of his course, but the jump from Korn’s ferry to PGA has some challenges.

“Definitely a little longer, more demanding than the Trinity, a little more firm for sure,” he said when he compares the events in both laps. “You don’t have to shoot 7- (floor), 8- every day, which is nice, but it is much harder to shoot 3- or 4-.”

Changes in McCarthy’s life have not been just on the golf course since they joined the full -time tour. When he was asked to name the best bonus he had received so far, he offered an unusual answer.

“I think the kind car every week, just showing the airport and you don’t have to wait in line at Avis compared to Korn ferry, was pretty nice,” he said.

WM Phoenix Open Champion Nick Taylor fired the crowd on Friday 16th. He shoots the hole. (Photo by Danny Trujilo/Kronkite News)

McCarthy enjoys the moment, best represented by a moment and miss it in the first hole during his circle on Thursday. McCarthy, moments after hitting his approach, fired from the green, cracked a smile and even ridicule. A group of college fans at college shouted, “Hey Matt, we sneaked into the 16th hole for you!”

The McCarthy Circle was up and down, but the chants of his large group of friends and family in a lock with his group seemed to maintain his spirit high. The other members of his group included 2023. The US Open Wyndham Clark Champion and World Golf Ranking No. 31, Akshay Bhatia.

One of the moments of McCarthy’s Maccarty McCarty Makara came to # 3. After a shot of the troika fired in the desert, McCarthy broke a 41-meter bird pussy. After nine holes, McCarthy was sitting at 2. The other was rescue after hitting him in the water at number 15. He followed him by chipping a bird.

“I really don’t hit the water so much, but it was nice to get it and save some momentum for the rest of the circle,” McCarthy said after the round.

McCarthy’s dream, which he was talking about Wednesday, came true when the sun fell late in the afternoon on Thursday. He picked up the 16th Troitzer box in front of a still packed crowd. There was really one way for his family to describe the moment.

“It’s just surreal at the age of 16 to be on the grass and go through it,” said Diana McCarthy.

Matt almost sank a bird Put, but just missed. Nevertheless, the moment was incredible for the young golf.

One of those supporters sown through the crowds to watch McCarthy was Bob Logwidis, a longtime family friend of the McCarthy clan. Loguidice was happy that he was there, but he was not surprised.

“Well, I met (McCarthy) when he played golf with us when he was 9 or 10 years old,” Logwidis said. “He was good then.”

Many members of the McCarthy family have shared visors and hats that read McCarthy Par-thi and crashed with a mat through their entire debut circle of WM Phoenix Open.