DUBLIN (Ohio) — Denny McCarthy’s two eagles on the PGA Tour in a single round aren’t likely to be the most common.
The 30-year old Marylander is one of Tour’s top putters but, at only 5’8″, he is one of the shortest golfers.
It didn’t matter when he birdied the par-5 7th and 15 th to shoot a 4-under-68 at the Memorial Tournament. He’s at 5 under par for the entire tournament.
McCarthy said, “It is pretty special to be able to play the par-5s at this course when I am not the longest player.”
The 583-yard number 7 was McCarthy’s best drive. McCarthy’s drive was 323 yards long and he drilled his hybrid from three feet away.
McCarthy’s second shot on the 15 th hole was within 24 feet of the hole and he made the putt.
McCarthy said that it was a huge achievement to pick up four shots on a par 5.
On Saturday, his putting was the difference. He made a 13-foot birdie putt on No. The last five putts on the back nine were 10, 9, 24, 2011, 13, 14 and 10-foot par putts.
McCarthy stated, “It has felt good for about a month now.” It was nice to be able pour so many consecutively in the back nine.
McCarthy’s career is the second in which he has two eagles on the same day. He achieved this feat at Wyndham Golf Club in 2021. McCarthy is the second golfer this week to achieve it at Muirfield Village. Aldrich Potgieter, an amateur golfer, eagled both the 7 and 11 holes at Muirfield Village on Thursday.
McCarthy proved this week that he is adept at shooting long distances from the golf course and basketball court. A 3-point shooting competition was organized by several Tour players at the Schottenstein Center on a practice court of Ohio State. McCarthy won.
As a high-school basketball player, he found his niche at Georgetown Preparatory School Bethesda in Maryland.
McCarthy stated, “My junior season we had a very good team with a lot D-I players.” McCarthy said, “I think I was the eighth or ninth player to begin the season. The coach discovered that I was a good shooter about a quarter into the season. Markel Starks, our point guard who was going to Georgetown and was one of the top players in the region, was also going there. “I fit in with the team because he could drive, collapse two or more defenders, and kick it to me. I fitted in perfectly for that.”
McCarthy thinks there is a correlation between the ability to shoot and his aptitude with a putter.
He said, “I have always had really good coordination (hand-eye).” “It’s like having a shoot-and-go mentality. I am super-reactive.” Basketball was probably my first passion. As a child, I loved to shoot around. “Our neighbors had a sport court and I would shovel it for them in the winter just to shoot hoops.”
