Scott Michael McCarron (born July 10, 1965) is an American professional golfer. McCarron was formerly a member of the PGA Tour but now plays on the PGA Tour Champions.
Early life and amateur career McCarron was born in Sacramento, California and graduated from Vintage High School in Napa, California. He was a member of the golf team at UCLA, graduating in 1988 with a major in History.
Unlike most golfers, McCarron did not transition right away from the college to the professional ranks – he gave up golf for four years (1988–1992) to work with his father in the family golf apparel business.
Professional career In 1992, McCarron turned professional and joined the PGA Tour in 1994 after his success at 1994 PGA Tour Qualifying School.
McCarron won three times on the PGA Tour, with his victories coming in 1996, 1997 and 2001.
McCarron has featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking.
McCarron was injured in the summer of 2006 and missed the entire 2007 season. He served as an analyst for The Golf Channel for its 2007 Masters coverage. He returned to the PGA Tour in 2008 and finished 108th on the money list to retain his card for 2009.
In 2010, McCarron became embroiled in controversy when he accused fellow PGA Tour player Phil Mickelson of "cheating" for using a Ping-Eye 2 wedge made before April 1, 1990 that is allowed under a legal technicality. McCarron publicly apologized to Mickelson a few days after. 30 days later, the PGA Tour and USGA banned the use of the Ping-Eye 2 wedges.
McCarron has won 11 times on the PGA Tour Champions, including one senior major, the 2017 Constellation Senior Players Championship. He made up a six-shot deficit in the final round to claim his first major by one shot.
On May 5, 2019, McCarron won the Insperity Invitational on the PGA Tour Champions for his tenth Champions tour title. The following month McCarron won the MasterCard Japan Championship by three strokes for his third win of the season.
On November 10, 2019, McCarron won the season-long Charles Schwab Cup and a $1,000,000 annuity on the PGA Tour Champions.
On January 15, 2020, McCarron received the Jack Nicklaus Trophy as the 2019 PGA Tour Champions Player of the Year.
Professional wins (20) PGA Tour wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1 Mar 24, 1996Freeport-McDermott Classic −13 (68-67-69-71=275)5 strokes Tom Watson2May 11, 1997BellSouth Classic−14 (70-69-66-69=274)3 strokes David Duval, Brian Henninger, Lee Janzen3Apr 1, 2001BellSouth Classic (2)−8 (68-67-72-73=280)1 stroke Mike Weir
PGA Tour playoff record (0–2) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result12003Las Vegas Invitational Stuart ApplebyLost to birdie on first extra hole22004Reno–Tahoe Open Stephen Allan, Hunter Mahan, Vaughn TaylorTaylor won with birdie on first extra hole
Other wins (6) 1994 Long Beach Open 1997 Franklin Templeton Shark Shootout (with Bruce Lietzke) 2000 Franklin Templeton Shootout (with Brad Faxon) 2001 Franklin Templeton Shootout (with Brad Faxon) 2002 Fred Meyer Challenge (with Brian Henninger) 2016 TaylorMade Pebble Beach Invitational
PGA Tour Champions wins (11) LegendPGA Tour Champions major championships (1) Charles Schwab Cup playoff events (1)Other PGA Tour Champions (9) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up1Jun 5, 2016Principal Charity Classic−15 (68-68-65=201)1 stroke Billy Andrade, Miguel Ángel Jiménez2Nov 6, 2016Dominion Charity Classic−13 (67-67-69=203)Playoff Tom Byrum3Feb 12, 2017Allianz Championship−17 (66-66-67=199)1 stroke Carlos Franco, Kenny Perry4Jul 16, 2017Constellation Senior Players Championship−18 (67-68-69-66=270)1 stroke Brandt Jobe, Bernhard Langer5Aug 20, 2017Dick's Sporting Goods Open−20 (71-61-64=196)1 stroke Kevin Sutherland6Sep 3, 2017Shaw Charity Classic−16 (63-64-67=194)1 stroke Miguel Ángel Jiménez7Jun 24, 2018American Family Insurance Championship−15 (70-67-64=201)1 stroke Jerry Kelly8Sep 2, 2018Shaw Charity Classic (2)−15 (67-65-63=195)1 stroke Joe Durant, Scott Parel, Kirk Triplett9Apr 21, 2019Mitsubishi Electric Classic−7 (68-70-71=209)2 strokes Joe Durant, Kent Jones, Jerry Kelly, Kirk Triplett10May 5, 2019Insperity Invitational−17 (67-65-67=199)2 strokes Scott Parel11Jun 9, 2019MasterCard Japan Championship−13 (69-67-67=203)3 strokes Billy Andrade, Kirk Triplett
PGA Tour Champions playoff record (1–1) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult12016Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship Colin MontgomerieLost to birdie on third extra hole22016Dominion Charity Classic Tom ByrumWon with birdie on first extra hole
Results in major championships Tournament19961997199819992000200120022003200420052006200720082009Masters TournamentT10T30T16T18CUTT23U.S. OpenT82T10T40T30CUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipCUTT18T34CUTPGA ChampionshipT47T10CUTT70T39T14CUTT59T24
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place.
Summary Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts madeMasters Tournament 0 0 0 0 1 4 6 5U.S. Open 0 0 0 0 1 1 6 4The Open Championship 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2PGA Championship 0 0 0 0 1 3 9 7Totals 0 0 0 0 3 9 25 18 Most consecutive cuts made – 5 (1996 Masters – 1997 U.S. Open) Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (three times)
Results in The Players Championship Tournament1996199719981999The Players ChampionshipCUTCUTT35CUT Tournament2000200120022003200420052006200720082009The Players ChampionshipT66T44CUTCUTT53CUTCUTCUT Tournament201020112012201320142015201620172018The Players ChampionshipCUTCUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place
Results in World Golf Championships Tournament20022003Match Play2R64Championship6InvitationalT75
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = Tied
Senior major championships Wins (1) YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunners-up 2017 Constellation Senior Players Championship 6 shot deficit −18 (67-68-69-66=270) 1 stroke Brandt Jobe, Bernhard Langer
Results timeline Results not in chronological order. Tournament 2015 2016 2017 2018 20192020202120222023202420252026Senior PGA Championship–T7T5T32NTT34T33T12T51CUTCUTThe Tradition–6T2T5T66NTT35T16T36T22T6574U.S. Senior Open–CUTT37T52T6NTT49CUTSenior Players Championship–131T4T7T28T37T55T30T60T52T60Senior British Open ChampionshipT252T23T3NTT25CUT
CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
See also 1994 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates List of golfers with most PGA Tour Champions wins
References
External links
Catching up with Scott McCarron