Improbable eagle pitch-in sparks Matt McCarty to record-crushing 3-round total at Ascendant; offbeat issues deal Josh Creel & Kyle Westmoreland setbacks; rare par-4 ace highlights day at TPC Colorado
By Gary Baines – 7/13/2024
BERTHOUD — It should give you some idea of what the last few days have been like that there have been more holes-in-one on par-4s (one) than on par-3s (zero) this week at The Ascendant presented by Blue.
For instance, Saturday at TPC Colorado featured:
— The fifth par-4 hole-in-one in the 34-year history of the Korn Ferry Tour, this one by Timmy Crawford from 365 yards on the third hole. (Details on that below.)
— Matt McCarty taking the lead with a 39-yard pitch-in for eagle from so far below the level of the hole that the left-hander didn’t see his ball fall into the cup on No. 15.
— The 54-hole tournament scoring record surpassed — by a whopping four strokes.
And, mind you, this is the same week when there’s been a 480-yard drive at TPC Colorado.
But it was McCarty’s improbable chip-in for eagle that most has the potential for affecting the tournament outcome. And the fans beside and behind the green on the par-5 knew what had happened before McCarty himself did.
“I couldn’t see it; I didn’t see where it landed,” the 26-year-old Scottsdale resident said. “I hit it good, I knew it had some spin, but (conditions were) getting a little crispy, so it was nice. I knew I hit it really good, but it was nice to get the reaction. I wish I would have seen it, but it was big.
“That’s a really good up-and-down for that to go in. Big bonus, especially after playing well on the front nine but not really getting anything going the last few holes.”
After going 65-68-64, McCarty sits at 19 under par — four better than the previous 54-hole tournament record, set by Alejandro Tosti last year. McCarty will take a three-stroke lead into Sunday.
Oddly, in McCarty’s two previous appearances at The Ascendant, he missed the cut on both occasions, with his four rounds at TPC Colorado being 77-75-73-72.
“I felt like I’ve grown a lot over the last couple years,” he said by why of explanation. “Two years ago out here I was completely different than I am now. … With everybody hitting it 400, 450 yards out here, I’m not going to overpower this place obviously, so I really kind of stick with my game plan, staying true to what I do. The course maybe doesn’t set up for my game with accuracy and not hitting it the farthest, but I know if I play good golf, my good golf’s good enough anywhere. I’m just kind of staying within myself and just really trusting my game plan.”
Indeed, McCarty has gone bogey-free for his last 31 holes at TPC Colorado.
Perhaps coincidentally, McCarty’s most notable victory as a pro came only about an hour from Berthoud, at the Wyoming State Open in Cheyenne in 2021.
Cristobal Del Solar follows some geese up to the 15th green on Saturday.
Only one player is closer than five strokes to McCarty’s lead as Chilean native Cristobal Del Solar posted a 66 on Saturday, leaving him at 16 under. Alistair Docherty, who matched the single-round tournament scoring record with a 63 on Saturday, and Mitchell Meissner share third place at 14 under.
McCarty is winless on the Korn Ferry Tour, but has knocked on the door with third- and fourth-place finishes this year and he stands 27th on the 2024 KFT points list. It isn’t lost on him the possible irony of him posting his first Korn Ferry victory on a course on which he’s had so little success.
“I just want some redemption tomorrow to kind of have an opportunity for the ultimate aspect of that redemption,” the former Santa Clara University golfer said.
The final two twosomes had to wait out a 1-hour, 15-minute delay down the stretch on Saturday as there was lightning in the area.
Out of concern for similar weather on Sunday afternoon, the final round tee times have been moved up from what was planned. The players will go off from 7:18-9:30 a.m. in threesomes, off both the first and 10th tees. The leaders will tee it up at 9:30 off of No. 1.
Cheyenne native Josh Creel shares ninth place going into Sunday.
Slow-Play Warnings, Lost (Then Found) Balls Hurt Causes of Creel, Westmoreland: Meanwhile, it was a pretty wild day for the three players left in the field who have significant area connections.
Cheyenne native Josh Creel stayed in the top 10 despite feeling like he was sprinting the entire back nine as he and playing partner Thomas Walsh were warned to speed up their pace.
Former Air Force Academy golfer Kyle Westmoreland made a quadruple-bogey 8 on hole No. 4 after two tee shots that were declared lost were found in the primary rough moments after the search ended.
And former University of Colorado golfer Jeremy Paul was derailed by a poor finish after strongly surging up the leaderboard.
Creel, a one-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour who went into Saturday in third place, actually shared the lead midway through round 3 as he started 4 under through seven holes. But he played his last 10 holes in 2 over and shares ninth place after round 3.
“We were cruising along just fine and then (rules officials) told us to hurry up and it felt like we sprinted the entire back nine,” said Creel, a former NCAA Division II national champion. “That’s tough and frustrating.
“They told us on 10 that the group in front of us was being timed, so to try and catch up. Both myself and Thomas kind of struggled on 12 and 13. (The official) came up to us on 14 and said you guys are on the clock now.”
Creel bogeyed holes 9, 13 and 17, while making a birdie on 15. He needed sand saves on 15 for his birdie and 16 for his par. Suffice it to say he thought his rhythm was thrown off.
“It felt like we sprinted the entire back nine when we’re not holding up a group behind us,” he said after signing for a 70. “That’s frustrating but it is what it is.
“We’re in as good a position as we’ve been in going into Sunday here. So a good one tomorrow will go a long way.”
Creel could use a strong finish as he sits 148th on the season-long Korn Ferry Tour points list and has missed his last five cuts on the KFT. His best finish of the year has been 27th place.
Kyle Westmoreland, a former Air Force Academy golfer, shares pleasantries after Saturday’s round.
As for Westmoreland, he shot an even-par 72 — that was anything but ho-hum — despite his snowman on the par-4 fourth hole. He was 5 over par for the day after four holes, but played his last 14 holes in 5 under.
On the fourth hole, the former Falcon golfer hit two tee shots to the right, and the search for the balls ended up focused on the wrong place — about 20 yards short of where the balls were eventually found, albeit after the three-minute search limit had expired.
“This is a tough one. That hole is a tough one,” said Westmoreland, who played full time on the PGA Tour last season. “I hit my original shot and my provisional shot. Got there in the long stuff and looked for them, didn’t find them. We donated four shots to the field by just not looking in the right place for a golf ball. It’s just one of those things. It’s golf. It’s not a perfect game.
“We were looking in thick hay and it wasn’t in the thick hay. It was just in the primary rough (roughly 20 yards further up), probably a sand wedge away from the green. Everybody stopped looking. I went back to the tee. (Spectators) started walking forward and saw” the balls.
“It was a tough bill to swallow. The tough part is it was an 8 that shouldn’t have been an 8. The ball was in play. It wasn’t like I hit it out of bounds or anything like that.”
After hitting his fifth shot from the tee, Westmoreland played the hole in regulation — with his third ball.
But from then on, Westmoreland carded six birdies and one bogey.
“It was a tough pill to swallow, but we battled pretty good,” he said. “I played well enough to still shoot 3 or 4 under with the 8. I had a couple 3-putts out there and missed some short ones. I played fine — well enough to make a lot of birdies out there.”
Westmoreland sits at 8 under par overall, in 40th place.
“We’ve got to shoot a number tomorrow,” he said. “I’m not going to hold back at all. I’m going to go out and hit it as hard as we can and try to make some putts. We’ll keep moving forward, keep chasing and see if we can do some damage. You can chase on this course, so that’s good.”
Former CU golfer Jeremy Paul blasts from a bunker at No. 16 on Saturday.
As for Paul, he can certainly attest that small things can turn a very fine round into a pretty good one at the elite levels of golf. And that can be the difference between having a shot at the title — or just a solid finish.
Paul was on pace for an outstanding run on Saturday, but a rough finish turned it into just a good score and may have cost him a legitimate chance at a victory.
The former CU golfer eagled the par-4 sixth hole after driving the green and was 6 under for the day through 12 holes. But three bogeys in the final four holes — with a birdie also in the mix — dropped Paul out of the top 10 and will leave him in 21st place going into Sunday’s final round.
“Obviously I had a bad finish and kind of made some silly mistakes down the stretch,” he said. “I got a little too aggressive on certain shots. That kind of bothers me right now. I’m satisfied with how I played, but obviously not the score at the end,” a 4-under-par 68.
Paul bogeyed the relatively easy par-5 15th hole after being 273 yards from the hole and in the center of the fairway after his drive. His second shot ended up well down a shaved slope from the right side of the green. He got underneath his pitch shot too much and it didn’t get over the hill, rolling back into a similar position, albeit eight yards further away. He couldn’t get up and down and made a bogey on a hole that’s been playing a half-shot under par.
“You just can’t make that mistake,” he said of not getting his pitch onto the green. “I was feeling good with the chipping, but got too aggressive. That’s a mistake you can’t make in that situation. You can err long but you can’t be short. That kind of took the momentum out of the round, then obviously the next hole (he made another bogey after being in a greenside bunker). That’s how you throw good rounds away. I was a little bummed.”
Monday Qualifier Holds the Ace: Timmy Crawford can indirectly thank a Monday qualifying round at Broadlands Golf Course in Broomfield for a historic moment on Saturday.
The rookie pro, who played his final year of college golf at Illinois, landed a spot in The Ascendant field by finishing in the top four at Monday’s qualifier at Broadlands.
And on Saturday, he parlayed that into becoming just the fifth player in Korn Ferry Tour history to make a hole-in-one on a par-4 during a tour event. In his case, he holed a driver from 365 yards on the third hole at TPC Colorado.
The most notable name to accomplish the same feat was four-time PGA Tour winner Chip Beck in the 2003 Omaha Classic, which also marked the first par-4 ace in a KFT tournament. The most recent prior to Saturday came in 2012. Joining Crawford and Beck in managing KFT aces on par-4s are Richard Johnson (2009), Rahil Gangjee (2011) and Rob Oppenheim (2012).
“That’s pretty awesome (to be) the first in over 10 years,” Crawford said. “I’ll definitely take that one home with me and save that golf ball.”
The third hole at TPC Colorado, a sweeping dogleg left, features a lake short of the fairway and all the way down the left side of the hole.
“I definitely pulled it a little left of where I wanted,” Crawford said of his tee shot. “The crowd clapped and it went in. I was just trying to get it to the front right edge of the green. It was pretty cool to see that go in.
It was the fourth ace of Crawford’s lifetime, including his second of 2024.
“We saw (the ball) disappear over the front center of the green, then we heard the claps that were pretty loud up by the green, so we figured it must have gone in,” he said. The reaction “was kind of shock honestly. (I thought), ‘Oh, I’ll probably have a pretty nice look at eagle.’ It turns out it just went in. I didn’t need the putter.”
Local Scores: Here are The Ascendant scores for players who have significant Colorado and area ties:
9. Cheyenne native Josh Creel, who started his college golf career at CU before completing it at Central Oklahoma 67-67-70—204
21. Former CU golfer Jeremy Paul 66-72-68—206
40.Former Air Force Academy golfer Kyle Westmoreland 69-67-72–208
Missed 36-Hole Cut
Fort Collins and Steamboat Springs resident Sam Saunders 73-69—142
Fort Collins resident AJ Ott, a former CSU golfer 72-73–145
Part-time Denver resident Kevin Stadler 69-77–146
For all the scores from The Ascendant, CLICK HERE.
About the Writer: Gary Baines has covered golf in Colorado continuously since 1983. He was a sports writer at the Daily Camera newspaper in Boulder, then the sports editor there, and has written regularly for ColoradoGolf.org since 2009. The University of Colorado Evans Scholar alum was inducted into the Colorado Golf Hall of Fame in 2022. He owns and operates ColoradoGolfJournal.com