Matt McCarty advances from Korn Ferry to the Masters, winning the title at the first PGA Tour event in Utah in 61 years

IVINS – The final lap of Matt McCarty's first win on the PGA Tour felt more like a victory lap than a grudge match.

The rookie, who won the Korn Ferry Tour three times and immediately secured promotion to professional golf's top division in August, took the lead in the third round and shot a 4-under-par 67, two shots shy of his first Black Desert title Championship to land at the Black Desert Resort in Washington County.

Making just his second start on tour, the former Santa Clara golfer from Scottsdale, Arizona, secured the $1.35 million prize and 500 points in the FedEx Cup fall series with a two-stroke victory over the German Stephan Jaeger, which earned him an exemption to next year's Masters and PGA Championship (McCarty has already secured a spot at the US Open after topping the Korn Ferry Tour points list, according to the Associated Press).

Lucas Glover and Kevin Streelman tied for third at 19 under, one shot ahead of Matti Schmid.

“I think Utah has a good vibe,” said McCarty, who finished second at the Utah Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour in August before winning his fourth tournament in 10 professional starts on Sunday. “I kind of figured out how to play high in Denver this year, to be honest. I think growing up in Scottsdale I was always somewhat comfortable with that. “Sometimes I found it a little too much with percentages and everything.” And more than that, get my numbers at the beginning of the week and go from there.

“For example, if you hit one hard, you still get a little further. If you take it off.

McCarty began the day with two birdies on the front nine, gave one back with a bogey on the par-4 12th hole, but began pulling away with an eagle on the par-4 14th hole before scattering birdies on the 16th and 18th.

Zac Blair, the only Utah native to make it, shot 4-75 on Sunday and finished with a 72-hole total of 2-282.

The former BYU golfer, who prepped at Fremont High, opened his final round with birdies on the par-4 first and fifth holes. But a triple bogey and three more bogeys derailed his round as he reached the finish line in his home state in the first PGA Tour event in 61 years.

“It’s always good to break through,” said Blair, who won both the Utah State Amateur Championship and the Utah Open Championship. “I wish I had had a slightly better week. You know, it was just one of those weeks where unfortunately nothing really went well for me.

“But it was a lot of fun.”

The 10-year professional golfer with two top-10 finishes and four top-25 appearances this season plans to finish most of the remaining FedEx Cup fall series stops on the PGA Tour, including next week's Shriners Children's Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.

“I feel like I should play well there,” Blair said of the Las Vegas event. “I played quite well there last year. It's good, lots of wedges. You have to keep it in play. A little less punishable than out there, but about the same. You have to keep it in the fairway.”