Scott McCarron

McCarron played golf from the age of 3 and was a member of the UCLA golf team that won the 1988 NCAA Championship. He turned professional in 1992 and played on the Canadian Tour in 1993 and the Hooters Tour in 1994.
He joined the PGA Tour in 1995 after finishing 31st in Q-School. He almost lost his Tour card in 1995, when he stood at 212th on the money list going into the final two events. However, he finished 3rd in Las Vegas, retained his card when he finished T-38th and won $4,620 at the last event in Texas. Between 1995 and 2005, he finished in the top 125 of the money list but hurt his elbow and had an unproductive 2006 season.
While out of action following elbow surgery in 2007, McCarron worked as an analyst for Golf Channel. He returned to the Tour after his problems in 2008 but never finished higher than 92nd on the money list and 82nd on the FedEx Cup list.
In his PGA Tour career, he played in 442 events, making the cut in 254 of them. He won $12.6 million with three wins, six runner-ups, and 39 top-25 finishes.
2015 Notes: Made his PGA Tour Champions debut in July, finishing T-25th at The Senior Open Championship at Sunningdale GC. He shared the 36-hole lead at the San Antonio Championship with Michael Allen late in the year. He eventually finished T-3rd with Allen, four shots behind Bernhard Langer despite posting a 70 in the final round. In their next start at the Toshiba Classic, he shared the 18-hole lead with Steve Pate after an 8-under-par 63, his low round on the PGA Tour Champions. He followed with rounds of 68-70 to eventually T-9th. For the year, in eight events, he was 49th on the money list and 45th in the Charles Schwab rankings.
2016: McCarron placed 6th at the Regions Tradition, then T-7th at the Senior PGA Championship, and finally tasted victory at the Principal Charity Classic. The win came thanks to making birdies on his final three holes to beat Billy Andrade and Miguel Angel Jimenez by one shot. He came close to winning again at the Senior Open Championship; he was among the leaders all four days at Carnoustie but bogeyed at 16 and 18 on the final day, dropping him to a 2nd-place finish and two shots behind winner Paul Broadhurst. Was the 18-and 36-hole leader at the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship in Canada after rounds of 62-66, but eventually fell in a three-hole playoff with Colin Montgomerie. He was again in a playoff at the Dominion Charity Classic with Tom Byrum but won the playoff. Played in 24 events and was 5th on the money list and 4th in the Schwab Rankings.
2017 Notes: Enjoyed perhaps the best year of his professional career with four victories, a trio of runner-up finishes, and a second-place finish on the Charles Schwab Cup money list with a career-best $2.6 million. He won his third PGA Tour Champions title when he drained a 6-foot eagle putt on the final hole to win the Allianz Championship. He came to the final hole one shot behind clubhouse leaders Kenny Perry and Carlos Franco, hitting a 7-iron from 179 yards to six feet to set up his winning putt. He had three Eagles over 54 holes, including two in the final round. He broke through for his first major title in July when he overcame a six-stroke deficit on the final day to claim the Constellation Senior Players Championship by one shot over Bernhard Langer and Brandt Jobe. He won his third title of 2017 when he closed with three consecutive birdies to defeat Kevin Sutherland by one shot at the Dicks Sporting Goods Open. The highlight of his victory was an 11-under-par 61 on Saturday. His round included eight birdies and two eagles, a career low. He became a winner for the fourth time in early September when he held off Miguel Angel Jimenez for a one-shot win in the Shaw Charity Classic in Calgary. It opened with a 7-under-par 63 and followed with a 6-under-par 64 to open a two-shot margin after 36 holes. A final-round 67 was good enough for the victory. He ended his year T-8th in the Dominion Energy Charity, 4th in the PowerShares QQQ, and T-9th in the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
2018 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour Champions with 13 top-10 finishes. Started his year with a T-6th finish at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. He won the American Family Insurance Championship by one shot over Jerry Kelly and the Shaw Charity Classic by one shot after shooting 63 in the final round. Finished T-2nd at the Toshiba Classic, one shot back of winner Vijay Singh. Also, the next week, T-5th at the Regions Tradition had another top-five finish with a T-3rd at the Senior PGA Championship. He also finished 3rd in the Senior Open Championship and the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. He would have won the Charles Schwab Cup had he converted his 54-hole lead into a victory at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship. Instead, he finished the tournament T-3rd, was 2nd in the final standings, his third straight top-five finish, and finished second on the money list with $2,008,618.
2019 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour Champions events with 14 top-ten finishes. He was 1st in the Schwab Rankings. Another season of contending in just about every event he plays in. He won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, Insperity Invitational, and the Japan Championship. He was 2nd in the Senior PGA Championship, one shot back of Ken Tanigawa, and T-2nd at the Cologuard Classic, four shots back of winner Mark O'Meara. He was T-3rd at the Hoag Classic, one shot back of the Triplett/Austin playoff. He won the Mitsubishi Electric Classic by two shots over Joe Durant, Kent Jones, Jerry Kelly, and Kirk Triplett. After finishing T-5th at the Bass Pro Shops, legends won the Insperity Invitational by two shots over Scott Parel. At the Senior PGA Championship was 2nd, a shot back of winner Ken Tanigawa. Won the Japan Championship by three shots over Billy Andrade and Kirk Triplett. Was T-6th at the U.S. Senior Open, T-7th at the Bridgestone Players, and T-4th at Dick's Sporting Goods Open. As the two-time defending champion at the Shaw Charity Classic, he finished runner-up by one shot back of Wes Short, Jr., who birdied his final hole for the win. It was his third runner-up finish of the season. He was T-7th at the Sandor International and T-8th at the SAS Championship. Led the Charles Schwab Cup standings the last 21 weeks of the season and became the fourth player in Tour history to lead at least 20 weeks in the same season. Won the season money title ($2,534,090) and ended Bernhard Langer's seven-year run atop the money list. Finished with the sixth-best scoring average (69.53).
2020 & 2021 Notes: Played in 26 PGA Tour Champions events with five top-ten finishes. He was 57th in the Schwab Rankings. Begin the season T-9th at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. He was 5th at the 2000 Hoag Classic, three shots back of winner Ernie Els. He was T-8th at the Sanford International. Begin 2021 T-9th at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai
and was T-10th at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic. But he didn't play like Scott McCarron since the start of the 2020 season before it was interrupted by COVID-19 and before he suffered an ankle injury that wasn't diagnosed as two torn tendons until he had played on it for nearly a year. At the 2021 Dick's Sporting Goods on the fourth of July, the leg was too painful, and cortisone shots weren't helping. So he decided to have surgery, but that became complicated. His tendons couldn't simply be reattached because, with his high arches, there was no guarantee they wouldn't tear again. So he had to have his left heel surgically broken and his foot realigned to have less arch. The tendons were reattached, and two long screws were placed in his foot to hold everything in place. The surgery was successful, but he was finished for the year and didn't start playing golf for four months.
2022 Notes: He played in 24 PGA Tour Champions events with one top-ten finish. He was 54th in the Schwab rankings and 54th on the money list with earnings of $366,741. His first event back from surgery was the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai; he finished T-34th. His best finish was T-10th at the SAS Championship. He was T-41st in his last start of the year at the TimberTech Championship.
2023 Notes: He played in 25 PGA Tour Champions events, with two top-ten finishes. He was 40th in the Schwab rankings and 42nd on the money list, with earnings of $509,334. He closed with a bogey-free 65 at the Hoag Classic en route to a T-7th finish, his best result on PGA Tour Champions since finishing 5th at the 2021 Hoag Classic. He birdied his last two holes to close with a 5-under 67 and finish T-4th at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic.
2024 Notes: Finished T-22nd at the Regions Tradition.