Savannah Golf Championship - Round 4 Recap
Monday, April 1st, 2019
Dan McCarthy built a two-shot lead and then held off a charging Scottie Scheffler to win the Savannah Golf Championship with a 16-under total. McCarthy left the door open when he missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole, but Scheffler missed a six-foot birdie putt of his own that could have forced a playoff. McCarthy rolled in a short par putt to cap off a final-round 69 and his first win in 45 starts on the Web.com Tour.
“I was almost crying after that putt went in,” said McCarthy, who moves to No. 8 in The 25 standings. “Scottie and Tim (Madigan) both came up and gave me a hug, I almost teared up.”
McCarthy started Sunday’s final round 13-under and tied atop the leaderboard with Scheffler and Tim Madigan. The momentum started to turn on the 10th hole, as McCarthy took a one-stroke lead when he made birdie and Scheffler bogeyed to drop to 14-under.
A birdie on No. 13 moved McCarthy to 16-under and pushed his lead to three over Scheffler. Three holes later, the score was tied after Scheffler birdied Nos. 14-16, his fourth streak of three or more birdies this week. The deadlock was short lived, however, as Scheffler failed to save par from the bunker on the par-3 17th and walked to the closing par 5 facing a one-shot deficit.
With McCarthy safely in the fairway short of the green in two, Scheffler lined up his second shot and flared his 4-iron high and right – a miss he said he fought all day – and found the greenside bunker. Moments later, McCarthy hit a wedge to 12 feet and kept the pressure in Scheffler’s corner.
Scheffler’s bunker shot for eagle scared the hole, producing a near-miss reaction from hundreds in front of the Deer Creek clubhouse, and left him with a six-foot putt for birdie.
“He hit a ridiculous bunker shot that made my heart leap out of my chest,” McCarthy said. “I thought that was going in and then I thought I had to make mine for a tie.”
Neither McCarthy nor Scheffler made their birdie putts, which meant McCarthy's three-footer for par earned him a spot in the winner's circle.
“You don’t know that you can do it until you actually do it out here,” McCarthy said. “It’s been a slow start to the year. I’ve played pretty well but I just really couldn’t get the putter going. And finally this week it just all opened up. It means the world.”
For Scheffler, the runner-up finish was his third top-10 in seven starts this year and he improved to No. 9 in The 25 standings.
“I really enjoyed myself, it was nice to be in contention out here it was a lot of fun,” he said. “It was a good battle, (McCarthy) just hit the ball a lot better than I did today. I was kind of playing from behind all day, not really putting myself in good spots. I was able to have a chance at the end, which gives me some confidence going forward.”
Madigan, the third co-leader after 54 holes, closed with a 1-over 73 and finished T7. Three players tied for third at 14-under: Kevin Lucas, Brett Coletta and Brian Campbell.
SUNDAY NOTES:
* Sunday's weather: Mostly cloudy, high of 73, winds W/SW 8-18 mph.
* This week's purse is $550,000, with $99,000 going to the champion.
* With the win, Dan McCarthy jumped 111 spots in The 25 standings to 8th.
* McCarthy led the field in par-4 scoring at 12-under for the week.
* With the victory, McCarthy became the fifth first-time winner on the Web.com Tour this season.
* McCarthy held at least a share of the lead each round of the tournament.
* Scottie Scheffler earned his best Web.com Tour finish of the season with a solo-second.
* Scheffler had one streak of four birdies in a row and three streaks of three birdies in a row throughout the tournament. He led the field in birdies for the week with 28.
* Monday Qualifier Will Zalatoris birdied his final two holes to finish T12 and earn a spot in the next Web.com Tour event, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Championship (April 18-21).
* Timothy Madigan finished T7 despite only hitting 43/72 greens in regulation.
* Jamie Arnold, who finished T9, had the low round of the day with a 7-under 65.
* Forty-two former Web.com Tour champions competed in the field, combining for 56 total victories.
* Hardest Hole (cumulative): Par-4 No. 10 (+0.232) - 46 birdies, 118 bogeys, 15 double bogeys
* Easiest Hole (cumulative): Par-5 No. 3 (-0.376) - 15 eagles, 206 birdies, 24 bogeys
*The Landings Club – Deer Creek Course Scoring Average:
R1
R2 35.144 36.150 71.294 71.566
R3 35.282 35.782 71.064 71.419
R4 35.462 35.897 71.359 71.404
For highlights from today’s round, or any 2019 event visit http://bit.ly/webcom2019video