Firing a final-round 69, Denny McCarthy of Burtonsville finished at 9-under-par (72-66-69 — 207), winning perhaps the biggest title of his golf career, the 35th PGA Junior Championship at Sycamore Hills Golf Club in Fort Wayne, Ind.
McCarthy’s victory in the rain-shortened tournament, scheduled for four rounds, came by three strokes over 2008 champion Anthony Paolucci (70-72-68 – 210) of Del Mar, Calif. It was a reversal of their result in the Thunderbird International in May, where Paolucci was the winner by three shots over McCarthy.
“This is as good as it gets,” McCarthy, 17, told Golfweek after his win Thursday. “With a field like this, all the top players, it’s pretty special.”
McCarthy entered the final round three strokes behind Oliver Schniederjans of Powder Springs, Ga. But made it up quickly with an eventful opening seven holes, which included an eagle, four birdies, two bogeys, and no pars.
While Schniederjans (66-69-76 – 211) was making four bogeys in a stretch of five holes around the turn, McCarthy grabbed the lead at No. 10, sinking a 20-foot putt for birdie.
“I was seven shots back after the first round and I knew I was going to have to fire at pins these last two days to have any shot,” said the Virginia-bound McCarthy. “I went into attack mode, and that made for some great shots but also made for some bad shots.”
The “attack mode” resulted in a 66 on Wednesday, which could have been better had it not been for an unfortunate break at No. 6, where he hit a tree, and got a bad ricochet that led to a double bogey.
The first-round leader was Justin Thomas (65-75-81 – 221) of Goshen, Ky., the recent runner-up in the U.S. Junior Amateur and the player who knocked McCarthy out of that tournament in the semifinals.
The tournament included 7 of the top 15 players in the Polo Golf Junior Rankings. A one-hour highlight show of the tournament will be shown on the Golf Channel on Sept. 13, at 8 p.m.
With the win, McCarthy earned a slot on the U.S. Junior Ryder Cup team, which will face the European Junior team in late September at Gleneagles.
McCarthy, a senior this fall at Georgetown Prep, has had a second straight spectacular summer. Last year he won a national tournament, the Big I, in Tulsa. Last month, after becoming the youngest winner in the 89-year history of the Maryland Open, he was ranked No. 1 in the nation (Golfweek).
Last week, McCarthy qualified for the U.S. Amateur for the second straight year. The Amateur will be held Aug. 23-29 at Chambers Bay, Wash.
