Denny McCarthy’s early success on the FedEx St. Jude Championship doesn’t inform the total story. The PGA Tour golfer is in Memphis, and he’s now adopting the town’s gritty mentality.
McCarthy is in ache. A lot ache that he’s having to change his swing whereas coping with a torn labrum in his hip.
He largely feels the ache on the downswing. McCarthy has to change his rotation by pushing up by the bottom greater than he’s used to. The damage appeared to have surfaced throughout his Friday spherical at TPC Southwind, the place he shot 63 and sat alone atop the leaderboard when he completed his final gap.
“Yeah, I don’t wish to expose an excessive amount of,” McCarthy mentioned. “It’s bothering me, and I’ve been in a position to do sufficient the previous few days to push by it.”
The sweltering Memphis warmth generally will get a nasty status for its affect at TPC Southwind, however within the case of McCarthy, it has been useful. Loosening up the hip is a vital for McCarthy to push by, and the warmth has been serving to him with that.
Pushing by the ache 😤
Chief @_DennyMcCarthy is battling a hip damage @FedExChamp. pic.twitter.com/6bjTMhpmkC
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 16, 2024
“It feels actually good,” McCarthy mentioned. “I haven’t been fascinated about it an excessive amount of, which is good. Simply sort of been centered on — sounds cliche, I’ve simply been centered on every shot actually, attempting to place the identical quantity of significance and focus into every shot.”
McCarthy entered the FedEx St. Jude championship with +15000 odds to win the event. These odds put him simply exterior of the highest 50 projected winners. The 31-year-old continues to be looking for his first profession PGA Tour win regardless of some spectacular performances this season. He notably completed second on the Valero Texas Open in April and had top-7 outcomes on the John Deere Traditional and Wells Fargo Championship.
A robust begin on Thursday allowed McCarthy to leap forward and lead the sector, however he’ll should grit and grind his method to the end line. He did simply that on Friday, and he has no intentions of shutting down.
As for after the event, McCarthy hasn’t dominated out the concept of surgical procedure.
“I don’t know but,” McCarthy mentioned. “I’m not wanting that far forward. I’m sort of simply centered on attempting to get higher every day this week, and that’s all I’m actually centered on.”
Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat author for The Business Attraction. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Comply with Damichael on X, previously generally known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.
