Sean McCarty is a former Hawkeye golfer and he has qualified for his 2nd PGA championship. This is incredible! He gets to play in a major golf tournament... again! Anyone who golfs could only dream of playing in a major.

If you're unfamiliar with how golf works, there are tournaments throughout the entire year and then there are 4 major tournaments. They are the Master's Tournament, U.S Open Championship, The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship.

Tour pros want to win every tournament they play in but I'd be willing to bet if they had a choice, most, if not all would pick to win a major. Golfers are usually judged on how many majors they've won. Not only that, they pay them the most money.


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This will be McCarty's 3rd major championship as he did play in the U.S Open back in 2003. He told KCRG

“That was a long time ago. You know time flies I can’t believe I’m almost 50, I love competing and the body feels pretty good for the most part. I’m just gonna keep going at it.”

As most golfers age, they tend to lose distance off the tee box. It's just a natural part of getting older. It's the same in any sport. McCarty isn't letting that stop or slow him down. At one point he was one of the longest hitters to play the game. KCRG reports he'd hit drives over 400 yards. Now he averages around 340, which is plenty to keep up with younger players.

He told KCRG

“It’s kind of fun to beat (younger players) when they know they should beat me.”

Personally, I will never be a good enough golfer to play in a major tournament but it's really fun to root for local golf pros who get to live out the dream. It's fun to vicariously live through them and watch them compete at the highest level.

This year's PGA Championship is May 19-22 and I know exactly who I'll be cheering on. McCarty told KCRG his goal is to make the cut this time around.

“I played well down there in St. Louis in 2018. Felt like I should’ve made the cut. That is my goal (this year) I wanna make the cut.”

Making the cut means he wants to be able to play on the Saturday and Sunday of the tournament. Golf eliminates players who haven't matched or exceeded a certain score, by the end of Friday, of a 4-day tournament.

Congratulations to Former Hawkeye golfer Sean McCarty on a huge accomplishment. He told KCRG

“Obviously it’s a major. It’s another highlight of my golf career.”

 

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