Georgetown Prep senior is youngest Open winner
Whatever Denny McCarthy achieves in golf, he will never forget the shot he hit Wednesday to become the youngest winner in the 89-year history of the Maryland Open.
Protecting a 1-stroke lead on the 18th hole at Manor Country Club and standing 145 yards from the flag, McCarthy fired a high shot, uphill and into the wind, which drew toward the pin. It hit two feet past and backed up to within a foot of the hole.
With his tap-in birdie, McCarthy, 17, finished with a three-day score of 8-under-par (68-64-70 — 202), two strokes clear of surging Keith Unikel (67-69-68 – 204) of Potomac.
With more than 100 spectators around the green, McCarthy’s stroke of genius came on a big stage and in his first tournament against professional players.
“I just thought smooth 8 [iron] and a high draw,” said McCarthy, a senior this fall at Georgetown Prep. “I heard a good amount of roars that continued for an extra 10 or 15 seconds, so I though it must be pretty close.”
Last summer, McCarthy won the Big I, a national-level junior tournament, and at 16 became the youngest D.C.-area player ever to qualify for the U.S. Amateur. But capturing a tournament that drew more than 400 entrants, including a handful of former touring professionals like Unikel, might be his most significant accomplishment. He is nearly two years younger than the previous youngest winner, 1978 champion Gary Marlowe, who captured the tournament two months after turning 19.
After the awards presentation, the 31-year-old Unikel, also a former Maryland Open champion (1998) at age 19, had a request for McCarthy.
“Can you sign here,” he joked.
An autograph from McCarthy, who committed to the University of Virginia on Monday, could be valuable someday. Next week, he plays for the third time in the U.S. Junior Amateur. McCarthy advanced to the round of 32 last year.
“He’s a great ball-striker,” said Unikel, a financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. “He shows a lot of poise. He walks off the shot if there’s some wind blowing. He seems to have his routine down. There’s no hiccup in his swing. It’s all right there.”
McCarthy’s lone hiccup came at No. 8, when he shanked an iron out of bounds and made a double bogey.
“Just an out-of-body experience,” said McCarthy, who quickly recovered. He didn’t miss a fairway the rest of the way and hit all but one green in regulation.
“I knew if I continued to hit fairways and hit greens and put pressure on them, they’d would have to come after me,” said McCarthy, who entered the final-round with a four-stroke lead and extended it with a chip-in birdie at No. 4 and an 8-footer for birdie at No. 6.
After falling seven strokes behind McCarthy on the front nine, Unikel rallied on the back, making four birdies.
“I figured I need to shoot 30 on the back, I figured I’d have a chance to get in a playoff,” said Unikel. “I shot 31. He won by two. I guess I needed a 29.”
When Unikel, a two-time former Maryland public school champion at Churchill, rolled in an 8-footer for birdie at No. 17, he sliced McCarthy’s lead to one stroke.
“He played an extreme back nine,” said McCarthy. “He was hitting good shots into the greens and his putter was rolling. That long putter scares me.”
When Unikel splashed his drive on No. 18 into the wet fairway, the pressure was on McCarthy to match.
“The way he was playing, the way he was rolling it, I really thought he was going to make birdie,” said McCarthy.
But McCarthy had the ultimate answer – a perfect drive and his near-perfect 8-iron.
McCarthy was steadied by his caddy, Kyle Stough, a recent Virginia graduate, and a fellow member at Argyle Country Club, who plans to turn pro.
“Denny’s something special,” said Stough. “He’s got everything. He’s a pretty even-keeled kid. He’s not going to get rattled. He’s like a 30-year-old in an 18-year-old’s body.”
Maryland Open (Monday-Wednesday)
Manor Country Club, par 70
1. Denny McCarthy (Argyle) 68-64-70 – 202
2. Keith Unikel (UMCP) 67-69-68 – 204
3. *Jeff Castle (Towson) 69-68-70 – 207
4. Chris Baloga (Hillendale) 70-70-69 – 209
5. Mike Meyer (Lakewood) 70-66-74 – 210
6. *John O’Leary (Pleasant V.) 70-73-68 – 211
7. Nate Cohan (Lakewood) 72-70-70 – 212
7. *Eric Cobb (Ingleside) 72-68-72 – 212
9. *Eric Egloff (Sandy Spring) 71-73-69 – 213
9. * Jim Estes (Olney GP) 70-72-71 – 213
9. J. Steinfelder (Woodholme) 70-70-73 – 213
* professional
