Denny McCarthy overcame a hip injury to take the FedEx St. Jude Championship lead early at TPC Southwind.
McCarthy had a solid 7-under 63 to get to 11-under and take the lead in the clubhouse. McCarthy, who is said to have a damaged labrum in his left hip, may need surgery in the winter. Hideki Matsuyama (64) joined him at the top, and he was one shot ahead of Sam Burns (63), who also shot 63 to move to 10-under.
McCarthy’s season faltered after he was second at the Valero Texas Open and sixth at the Wells Fargo Championship in May. And although a T7 at the John Deere Classic was respectable, the injury became a concern due to Scotland’s frigid temperature. In his last three starts, including The Open Championship, he has missed two cuts.
McCarthy, who entered this week ranked 45th in the FedExCup standings, needed a respectable result to guarantee his spot in the top 50 for the BMW Championships and its designation as a Signature Event in 2025. He’s headed toward securing a position in the top 30 and the TOUR Championship at this rate.
“I prefer not to give too much away. I’ve been able to work through it for the past few days, but it still bothers me.
It’s just barely making it through the downturn. It’s simply difficult for me to push through the ground and perhaps obtain a bit more rotation than I would like. Everything has gone well. It is greatly aided by the heat. It truly relaxes it. However, I’ve had to invest a lot of time in preparation and post-round work to loosen it up and make it ready to play a complete round.
It’s wonderful that I haven’t been thinking about it too much. I’ve really just been trying to give every shot the same level of emphasis and attention.” McCarthy said post round of the injury.
His Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, where he ranks 68th out of 70 players, hasn’t benefitted much from having to change his swing. However, he has made up for it elsewhere, finishing inside the top 5 in SG: Tee-to-Green, SG: Approach, SG: Around-the-Green, and SG: Putting.
Although it is unclear if McCarthy can push through the pain barrier in the Playoffs, the bigger issue will arise if surgery is necessary for the injury. The Mayo Clinic reports that the recovery period from hip labrum surgery can range from 3 to 6 months, which could extend into the 2025 season, including Signature Events if McCarthy makes it to Denver next week.
“As of yet, I’m not sure. Not that far ahead, I hope. This week, all I’m really focusing on is trying to get better every day. That’s about it.” McCarthy said about a possible labrum surgery.
McCarthy began the week at BetMGM Sportsbook as a +10000 longshot and reached as high as +15000 elsewhere. Before his remarkable comeback, he bogeyed the tournament’s first hole, sending those odds skyrocketing to 250-to-1. By the halfway point of the second round, his odds of winning were +900.
“The 31-year-old has lost in a playoff round the past two seasons, but he has yet to win on the PGA TOUR. He was runner-up to Viktor Hovland in the Workday-sponsored 2023 Memorial Tournament and lost narrowly to Akshay Bhatia in the Valero Texas Open in April of this year.
All I have to do is continue doing what I’m doing. Our sport is incredibly demanding. Some of the folks here play pretty well, and it can be difficult at times when those individuals keep up their good performance and I keep up my occasional struggles to get there. I just need to keep doing what I’m doing. Our sport is quite hard. Some of the people here are quite skilled golfers, so when they continue to perform well and I continue to battle occasionally to catch up, it can get challenging at times.” McCarthy added.
