From telling longtime Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo he was actually a Washington Redskins fan, to the Web.com Tour Finals, it has been quite the year for Denny McCarthy. But while the 2017-18 PGA TOUR season was a learning experience for the University of Virginia alum, his return to the Web.com Tour Finals has been a fruitful one. He has taken advantage of some course knowledge, and after a 3-under 67 Sunday at the DAP Championship presented by NewBrick, he has earned a return to the PGA TOUR. McCarthy finished 149th in the FedExCup standings, but a tie for fifth at last week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship coupled with a tie for ninth this week, and McCarthy has secured a spot in The Finals 25 and a TOUR return. “It’s a nice relief for sure,� McCarthy said. “At the same time, I haven’t really been thinking about it. My game has been feeling good for a couple months now. The last couple weeks, I’ve been trying to put my head down and focus on winning the golf tournament and let that take care of it.� McCarthy explained his change in mindset – from just trying to get to a number, to focusing on raising a trophy – has been beneficial for him, attitude-wise, these last two weeks. “I wasn’t thinking about getting back to the PGA TOUR. Obviously It was the goal but I was taking a different approach, trying to win tournaments,� he said. “I have a couple more cracks at it. It will be nice to have a week off and refresh, and I know I’m playing some good golf to compete and win right now, so I’m just going to keep doing the things that I think are going to prepare me for the next year on the PGA TOUR and maybe get a win under my belt for these last two events.� McCarthy said he felt as though he was playing well enough to make a run at the leaders Sunday, but that didn’t quite happen. The Maryland native ended up six shots back of eventual winner Kramer Hickok. He made bogey on the par-4 second and said the golf course firmed up “quite a bit� through the afternoon. He said he played a “solid� round after that early bogey. “I made a bogey early and that frustrated, me but I made four birdies coming in with no bogeys coming in … so a pretty clean round, and I’m pretty please with the way I played,� he said. McCarthy had one top-10 finish during the PGA TOUR this season — a solo fourth at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, where he played the first two rounds with Romo. He said he’s anxious to get back to the TOUR in the fall with a year of learning now under his belt. “It’s always difficult learning a new golf course, let alone 20 new golf courses,� he admitted. “Every week last year was a learning experience trying to figure out how to navigate each course “I feel better going into this year, knowing all the courses and knowing what it’s like to play tournament rounds on these courses. I really like the way my game is trending, so overall I think it’s a double-win.�
Click here to read the full article…