FEDEX ST. JUDE CHAMPIONSHIP

August 16, 2026

Matt McCarty

TPC Southwind

Quick Quotes

Q. Matt, what are your emotions like right now coming off of 18 there?

MATT McCARTY: I mean, just a frustrating four days. Today was a little better, I guess, I don't know. But yeah, it sucks.

Having the beginning of the week knowing that if I played well, I kind of controlled my own destiny. Now for that not to be the case kind of sucks. But it is what it is, and we'll see.

Q. Did you find yourself looking at leaderboards, thinking about projections as you were in the middle of the final round, or did you try and just focus on the golf?

MATT McCARTY: Honestly with the last three days how bad I played, kind of like -- I thought after the round yesterday I thought I had no chance, especially after that finish. Then yesterday afternoon, I guess, some things kind of went my way and I'm close, which makes it a little harder to swallow.

Yeah, we'll see. I mean, today, yeah, just played golf. I honestly played all right. I just didn't really make any putts.

Q. How much was top 50 a goal you had in mind during the season or as we got closer to the playoffs?

MATT McCARTY: Yeah, I think beginning of the year, it's kind of second year out here, first year playing all the Signatures. That was kind of my goal at the beginning of the year.

Proud of like kind of the way I started this year obviously, like really well, and then proud of how I played. Like I didn't play great the last couple months, but I felt like the game has been kind of close and just doing a lot of things well, just kind of making too many mistakes.

Yeah, I feel like I've done a good job like not worrying about it while I'm on the golf course. It's just more kind of one of those things that bothers you a little bit. Drop three or four spots every week, and you kind of notice that a little bit off the course.

It is what it is. I think either way I'm going to take a lot of positives out of this year. It's only my second year out here, and I think I've been kind of trying to work my way into the Signatures all year and kind of did that for the most part -- or did that for all of them. Thought it actually kind of helped me going into these last couple weeks and kind of having that to play for.

Yeah, golf's a tough game. It sucks sometimes.

Q. You mentioned not being able to control your destiny anymore. So what does the next few hours look like for you?

MATT McCARTY: Honestly, yesterday I booked a flight. I'm going back to Chicago, and if I end up having to drive down to St. Louis on Monday, I'll be happy. If not, I'll be home and be okay. I'm going to hop on a plane and not look at my phone for a while. I think it's better than kind of looking at it a lot.

Q. Horrific question to ask after 100 degree heat and you just finished, but have you thought much about the fall?

MATT McCARTY: Yeah, I think obviously it kind of changes a little depending on how this shakes out. I'll play Utah for sure. I loved going to Japan. I'll play that. Kind of those are the two I feel like fits nicely for me to have some time off, play those, and then we'll kind of see in November if I want to play a little bit or if I want to keep taking a break.

Q. How does the Utah, Japan thing work. I feel like they changed it up a little bit. Do you go straight from Japan to Utah, or is it the other way around?

MATT McCARTY: Yeah, it's the first time it's had this setup. I think we're going straight from Utah to Japan. I don't know, like taking a plane out of Vegas or something. We'll see. They've got that flight for us over there, and they treat us well for that event.

Q. What do you think next year is going to be like? There's so much focus on 70 and 50 and 30, et cetera. Next year going into '28, I don't know the details, I don't know if anyone does, but we're looking at a lot more in the Championship Series. What is it, 120 or 190? It's a bigger number.

MATT McCARTY: We've had those meetings and everything, but I don't think anything has been set in stone yet of what those numbers will look like. Obviously top 50 and playing the Signatures is a good step towards kind of getting through that for '28.

I think that's something that's pretty far in the future. I think kind of live or die with every shot and every week out here, if you start looking ahead like that, you kind of get yourself in some trouble. Just kind of trying to focus on what I can control.

Yeah, I think looking -- I'm looking forward to next year. I learned a lot this year, played a lot of good golf. I know that, if I'm not in a Signature to start the year, I can work my way into them like I did this year, just a little bit of a tougher road early in the year.

Q. You should be okay for the first a couple of them maybe.

MATT McCARTY: We'll see. You never know.