Latest news with #DennyMcCarthy
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Travelers Championship notes: Denny McCarthy finds groove with putter, ties Thomas for best second round score
CROMWELL – The putter was just off for Denny McCarthy in the first round of the Travelers Championship on Thursday, but not enough to worry. He came back out on Friday, the windy conditions on the course helping to lower his internal expectations, and shot 6-under-par 64 in the second round, leaping 31 spots up to fifth on the leaderboard. Advertisement 'I didn't really roll it that bad yesterday. It's just such a dramatic change from last week (at Oakmont) to this week, greens being really fast and slopey last week and then not as much slope. They seemed pretty slow yesterday; they might have been prepping for the amount of wind today,' McCarthy said. 'I hit a lot of putts that were good putts, burned edges, so it was a little frustrating because it felt like I could have maybe got a 3- to 5-under out of the round yesterday, and I didn't.' Frustrating, indeed. Had he found more success in less imposing conditions on Thursday, when he shot 1-under, McCarthy would have some cushion at the top of the leaderboard. With eight birdies on Friday, he was one of the few who were able to have success in the face of 30 MPH wind gusts. 'I think it was kind of like a lower your expectations, just kind of go out, try and hit the shot as best you can and move on type of day,' he said. 'I like those days. It's where I don't really have many expectations. You kind of get out of golf swing, too. You kinda start playing shots. You start countering the wind with certain shots or just playing with the wind on certain shots, not trying to be too perfect, just trying to picture a shot and hit it.' Advertisement McCarthy will spend his weekend chasing leaders Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas, who matched his 6-under on Friday. A special place for Cromwell in Cantlay's heart Patrick Cantlay will play the Travelers Championship every year he's able. The experience he had in 2011, shooting 10-under 60 in the second round, which still stands as the lowest round ever by an amateur on the PGA Tour, will have that effect. 'It's so great to see this tournament evolve over the years,' he said Friday, in the field for his eighth straight year and 11th overall. 'It's become one of the best tournaments on Tour. I know speaking for a lot of the guys, we really look forward to coming this week. It doesn't feel like 14 years ago that I played my first one, but it's been real cool to see how much better the golf tournament has got each and every year.' Advertisement Cantlay finished the 2011 tournament at 11-under 269, tying for 24th. He entered this year's Signature Event, the eighth and final of the PGA Tour season, having finished top-15 each of the last seven years, including a fourth-place finish in 2023 and fifth in 2024. Dealing with the swirling wind during Friday's second round, Cantlay made six birdies on the day but bogeyed No. 8 and No. 18, and found water for a double bogey on No. 13. His 2-under 68 moved him to 5-under through 36 holes. No shootout for Taylor Nick Taylor hasn't had a whole lot of success in eight appearances at The Travelers. Advertisement The 37-year-old Canadian has missed the cut five times and never finished better than 42nd, where he placed after shooting 3-over 273 last year. Good news for Taylor, there is no cut with it being a PGA Tour Signature Event. 'I haven't had a whole lot of success here for whatever reason. I think sometimes it's a shootout here, which I don't always prefer,' Taylor said after shooting 2-under 68, one of the better scores of the day, to get to 6-under through 36 holes. 'But it was tricky today. I think the weekend is going to be a little less wind, so it's probably going to be some low scores again. With guys at 9 (under), you've got to think at least – not at least, but probably around 20 is going to win.' U.S. Open slump JJ Spaun, coming off the week of his golf career winning the U.S. Open, couldn't seem to settle in at any point through the first two days at The Travelers. Spaun followed a 73 in the first round with a 71 on Friday, starting his day off with a double bogey on No. 1 and finally ending it with a birdie on No. 18. Advertisement Through 36 holes, Spaun has accumulated seven birdies, seven bogeys and two doubles. Kim withdrawals Si Woo Kim was the second golfer to withdraw because of an injury, following Jordan Spieth's neck and back pain on Thursday. Kim pulled out with a back injury after recording his second double bogey of the day on No. 12, which made him 8-over through 30 holes.
Daily Record
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Golf star reacts to 'mashed potato' and 'baba booey' yells from fans
Denny McCarthy doesn't get annoyed at increasingly daft shouts from the galleries Amused Denny McCarthy reckons golf gobs are just a bit of fun. The increasingly ridiculous shouts of punters at tournaments, particularly in the United States, grates with a host of pundits and watching TV viewers as they gawp at the bizarre behaviour. Senseless shouts like 'Mashed Potato' and 'Light the Candle' are yelled out as players hit balls in events to the bemusement and irritation of most observers. On a tough day, you would imagine it must make some Tour pros want to throttle the offenders, yet McCarthy sees the lighter side after being asked his thoughts on the situation. He said: 'I don't mind it. I think it's a fun part of the game. Obviously you hear the 'Baba Booey' and you hear some of these other ones that you've heard for such a long time. "It's just fans trying to have fun out there. Maybe they've got fans listening, like: Hey, I'm with Rory [McIlroy], listen to his sixth tee shot, I'm going to yell something, stuff like that. It's just a fun part of the game.' Shouts or no shouts, McCarthy has plenty of reasons to smile at the Travelers as he sits just two off the leaders Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas at the halfway mark. He survived the wind woe on day two and said: 'It felt nice to shoot a good score. I haven't played all that great lately, but I've put a lot of work in this week and started to see some good form the last few days. 'I'm just proud of how I battled. It was really tricky, would blow 25 one minute and then would drop down to 15, go to five and then kick back up. "When it's really gusty like that and changing directions like that, it's hard to get the yardages right. I do enjoy these conditions. My weather app said 14, 15, 16 miles an hour. "It's a liar because it was blowing like 25 to 30 on the range it felt like this morning. Umbrellas were kind of blowing around. People were kind of just laughing hitting balls. 'It's felt better the last few days. I feel like I can still improve on it. Just keep trying to stack days is important for me right now. It is the simple kind of fundamental stuff for me. "I try and keep the game really simple. When I start worrying too much about what the club is doing is typically when I'm not playing my best. "It's like I work on the stuff on the range and then it's like I get on the course and I'm still doing the same stuff. I might have that small key in my head, but it becomes almost like a different sport when you get on the range. "You've got to forget what you're doing on the range and then just go out, picture, play, and hope that some of those feels that you've been working on on the range have seeped into your on-course stuff.'
Daily Record
14-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Shattered US Open star admits brutal Oakmont course is punching players in the face
Denny McCarthy admits test is brutal for game's elite as Sam Burns accepts stars have to take their medicine Beaten-up Denny McCarthy reckons Oakmont is punching players in the face. The American star admits the brutal conditions at the US Open course and the difficulty of the lay-out are pushing stars to the edge mentally and physically. Top stars have lost their cool with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler amongst those having outburst of temper and rage. McCarthy says players look shattered by the end of rounds and explained the mood amongst the competitors as he said: 'There hasn't been a ton of talk. It's just kind of the common theme. "Everyone seems like they're exhausted when they come in off the course just because it's a punch in the face. Even if you've played okay and grind it out and shoot a couple under to a couple over, it's still just a grind. It just takes a lot out of you. 'You've got to be really sharp tee to green. It's a pretty demanding course. The course I feel like can play way more difficult than it has and you still see it doesn't take that much. "If you're not on tee to green, you're going to struggle regardless. But they can firm these greens up, and I think they can speed them up a little bit more if they want to.' Leader Sam Burns tamed the track with a Friday 65, but even he admits it's a slog and explained: 'Honestly it kind of forces you to take your medicine because a lot of times that's the only option you have. "I think for this golf course, you really just have to free it up. It's too hard to try to guide it around here. You're going to hit some in the rough, you're going to hit some in some bad spots, you might as well do it with authority. 'I just feel like I've tried to play too perfect and tried to force it a little bit at times. So trying to really be patient and take what the golf course gives me. 'Mentally, there's no just kind of gimme hole. There's no hole where you can get up there and just hit it and not really pay attention to what you're trying to do. "I think it requires a lot of focus on every shot and even when you're in the rough and you're trying to get it back in the fairway, it's just every shot is difficult. So really you're very focused and putting a lot into every shot mentally and I think over time that's just pretty taxing.' 'Look, this golf course is very tough and you're going to get the ball out of position and you're going to get in some spots that are tricky. I think being able to rely on your short game and give yourself a chance at par is really important.'
National Post
13-06-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Oakmont breaking golfer's souls: 'I'm too annoyed and too mad right now to think'
OAKMONT, Pa. — Oakmont is up to it's old trick of breaking golfer's minds, and a few of the world's best seem ready to snap at this incredibly difficult U.S. Open course. Article content 'Honestly, I'm too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective. Very frustrated. Very few rounds of golf I played in my life where I think I hit good putts and they didn't sniff the hole, so it's frustrating,' said Jon Rahm after following Thursday's 69 with a 75 on Friday. Article content Article content Article content 'I didn't see anything go in beside a 7-footer on seven,' the Spaniard said of his bad day on the greens. 'That's it. That's a very hard thing to deal with to try to shoot a score out here.' Article content Jason Day took matters into his own hands — actually into his foot — after a poor putting day on Thursday. The Aussie bounced back from an opening round 76 with a second round 67 and will play the weekend. Article content 'I bent my putter. Yeah, I just manually bent it myself. Stood on it,' he said when asked what changes he made after Round 1. 'That's kind of how I used to do it back in the day. It just hadn't been looking very good to me personally, kind of looks a little bit hooded, the grip's on a little bit closed too, so that's not a positive for me. But I bent it enough to make it look more open, which is good.' Article content The result? Article content 'Putted a lot better today.' Article content Denny McCarthy is one of the very best putters on the PGA Tour, but despite putting very well on Friday he still walked off with a 74. He said most players aren't complaining, they are simply resigned to their fate. Article content Article content 'They're really slopey undulated greens, but there hasn't been a ton of talk. It's just kind of the common theme; everyone seems like they're exhausted when they come in off the course just because it's a punch in the face,' McCarthy said. 'Even if you've played okay and grind it out and shoot a couple under to a couple over, it's still just a grind. It just takes a lot out of you.' Article content Sam Burns shot an almost unbelievable 65 on Friday and said sometimes trying to be perfect can be the enemy of golfers, especially on Oakmont's notorious greens. Article content 'I try to keep it very simple. I think if you look at putting, the ball is rolling on the ground. There's a lot of imperfections on grass,' he said. 'There's a lot of different lines the ball can go in, depending on the speed, so if you try to be too perfect with putting it can drive you crazy, so I just try to really read it, put a good roll on it, focus on the speed and hope for the best.'
USA Today
14-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Denny McCarthy odds to win the 2025 PGA Championship
Denny McCarthy odds to win the 2025 PGA Championship PGA Championship details and info Date: May 15-18, 2025 May 15-18, 2025 Course: Quail Hollow Club Quail Hollow Club Location: Charlotte, NC Charlotte, NC Previous Winner: Xander Schauffele How to watch the PGA Championship Thursday: ESPN, The Golf Channel ESPN, The Golf Channel Friday: ESPN, The Golf Channel ESPN, The Golf Channel Saturday: CBS (KBAK-Bakersfield, CA), ESPN, NBC (WBGH-Binghamton, NY) CBS (KBAK-Bakersfield, CA), ESPN, NBC (WBGH-Binghamton, NY) Sunday: CBS (KBAK-Bakersfield, CA), ESPN, NBC (KUAM-Guam), NBC (WBGH-Binghamton, NY), NBC (WBIR- Knoxville, TN) Watch golf on Fubo! McCarthy odds to win the PGA Championship PGA odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Wednesday at 3:03 PM ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub. McCarthy odds to finish in the top 5 at the PGA Championship McCarthy odds to finish in the top 10 at the PGA Championship Other betting markets for McCarthy at the PGA Championship McCarthy recent performances McCarthy hasn't won any of the 12 tournaments he has played this season, though he has secured one top-five finish. McCarthy has finished in the top 20 in one of his past four appearances. McCarthy has made the cut in 16 straight events. In his last five trips to this event, McCarthy has an average finishing position of 49th.
