Matt McCarty's Winning Bag | 2024 Black Desert Championship
Matt McCarty earned his promotion to the PGA Tour this summer by winning 3 times on the Korn Ferry Tour. In just his 2nd career PGA Tour start, McCarty brought his winning ways to Utah with a three-stroke win at the inaugural Black Desert Championship.
McCarty is a PING staffer and plays exclusively PING through his bag, with most of his gear current generation clubs besides his 3-wood and wedges.
All WITB information is courtesy of GolfWRX.
Driver: PING G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X (45.25 inches)
At the top of McCarty’s bag is a PING G430 LST driver. He plays a 10.5 degree head with a Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X shaft, cut to 45.25” in it. The LST is a low-spin head, designed for players with fast swing speeds that like to shape the ball. McCarty is a lefty, and loves to draw the ball of the tee. McCarty averaged over 325 yards off the tee, which surprisingly was just the 41st longest driving average of the week. He also hit 75 percent of the fairways off the tee, which is a phenomenal number, but still ranked a bit lower, as he was tied for 65th in overall driving accuracy. But while he didn’t rank near the top in either distance or accuracy, he put himself into scoring position off the tee, which is evident by his 8th place finish in Strokes Gained Off the Tee, gaining 3.704 strokes on the field.
3-wood: PING G410 (14.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X
Moving to McCarty’s fairway woods, where he goes back two generations for his 3-wood, gaming a PING G410 with a Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X. Now the saying goes, once a player finds a 3-wood he loves it won’t leave his bag, and perhaps this is the case for McCarty. The G410’s biggest improvement from its G400 predecessor was the repositioning of the Center of Gravity closer to the face, which aligned with the force line. It also features a high-density tungsten back weight and thinner crown, which helped boost its MOI. McCarty hit one of the shots of the tournament with this club at the driveable 310 yard par 4 14th in Sunday’s final round. McCarty hit a beautiful draw that landed short and ran up onto the green and settled just 3 feet and 7 inches from the cup, leading to an eagle that all but wrapped up the tournament.
7-wood: PING G430 Max (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X
McCarty skips a 5-wood in his bag and goes with one of the hottest trends in golf with a 7-Wood. While McCarty goes with the G410 for his 3-Wood, he moves into the G430 Max for his 7-Wood. The G430 Max features technological improvements including CarbonFly Wrap for weight savings which helps boost its MOI, and Spinsistency for better strikes lower on the face. This 7-wood provides McCarty with lots of versatility in his long game with its high ball flight, spin and stopping power.
Irons: PING Blueprint S (4-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold 120
McCarty stays with PING’s latest offering for his irons, playing the Blueprint S’ throughout his iron set. They provide everything a player needs in a players iron with a touch more forgiveness compared to a true muscle back. These clubs were also very good for McCarty this week. He ranked 22nd in Greens In Regulation percentage, hitting 57 of 72 for the tournament. This performance helped him finish 24th in Strokes Gained Approach To Green, gaining 2.221 stroke on the field.
Wedges: PING Glide Forged Pro (50-S10, 54-S10, 60T6)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
For his wedges, McCarty goes back a few years to the Glide Forged Pro series, playing them for his gap, sand and lob wedges. These clubs played their part in his solid approach performance, but they were even better around the green. He converted 10 of his 15 scramble opportunities, including 4 of 6 saves from the sand. This helped him gain 2.619 strokes on the field, which was 6th best overall for the tournament.
Putter: PING PLD Custom Tyne C
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol 2.0
Finishing off McCarty’s bag is a custom PING PLD Tyne C. McCarty plays a center shafted Tyne C, which is a fang-style mallet putter. This club was also one of the stars of the show for McCarty during his win in Utah. He made 71 feet of putts, which was 34th best, and averaged 1.63 putts when he found the green in regulation, which was 2nd best in the field. That combination resulted in McCarty gaining 6.579 strokes on the field in putting, which was 7th best overall for the week.