Denny McCarthy opened the 2025 BMW Championship with an even-par round, fighting through extreme heat, a rain delay, and a tough bogey on the closing hole. Despite the setback, McCarthy was pleased with his overall play and emphasized the importance of hydration, energy management, and staying mentally sharp in challenging conditions.
The Maryland native detailed how the rain softened the course, creating more receptive greens but also producing tricky mud balls. He also discussed his strategy for navigating Olympia Fields, the impact of fan support, and the role friends and family play in keeping him motivated during the playoffs.
Currently outside the top 30 in the FedExCup standings, McCarthy knows exactly what’s at stake: a spot in the TOUR Championship. He’s committed to putting his head down, executing over the next three days, and hopefully giving his supporters a reason to show up in force for the weekend.
📺 Watch the full interview to hear McCarthy’s thoughts on course conditions, playoff pressure, and his plan to play his way into East Lake.
Danny, how do you feel getting in even par, unfortunately buggy on the last, but overall, how was the day? Uh, yeah, it’s a little frustrating. Um, I made two really good swings at the last. Just kind of got the number number wrong, club wrong, hit it in a place you can’t hit it. But, um, pretty pleased with how I played today. It’s really hot. Uh, it’s really gross out. Just got to maintain my energy levels, hydration, be eating on the course. Sometimes I um don’t eat that much, but I got to it. It’s sneaky, really hot out there and it’s a tough walk. So, um just got to stay up on those energy levels and um I feel good about my game. I you know, I think there’s some low scores out there. It’s hard to, you know, they redid the course obviously. First time playing it. Kind of just trying to get a feel for it. Um so, I have a better understanding of kind of what it’s going to be like over the next couple days. a little up and down on the front line, but looked like the back nine was pretty steady. Did the Did the delay make a difference? I think it helped. Yeah. I mean, my clothes were soaked after after we made the turn. I I figured there was a delay coming. I was maybe going to change at the turn. Um we we played 10. Once we got on 10 green, the horn blew. Um so I came in and I I was so hot I just jumped right in a cold plunge, got in some fresh clothes, uh made some food, hung out with some family and friends. So, um yeah, I’d say it was a nice little reset. came out um feeling pretty relaxed, fresh at a close. It was It was nice. Questions. I know you’re trying to get in the top 30 or do you look like after each round or you just kind of like I mean it’s I know how I need to play this week. I mean it’s hard to it changes every second. You know that I’m sure on the broadcast they’re like, “Oh, with the birdie it’s projected into here for on the first day.” But you know, there’s so much golf to be played and it you know that that stuff’s changing every minute. So, um, yeah, I mean, that’s a goal of mine to play next week and I got to put my head down and play some good golf over the next three days. How was the fan support? I know you mentioned being excited about being home. Yeah, it was really good. I had a nice crowd to start the day. Um, you know, there it’s tough to find some shaded areas out there that they were doing a good job of finding some shaded areas and cheering from from a little bit of a distance away under some trees. Um, like I said, it was really hot. Um, yeah, there’s still a good crowd after after the rain delay, so it was nice to kind of feel their support out there. Second chip on 18. Do you think that one was in? Um, I would have been a bonus if it went in. I’m I feel somewhat fortunate that it hit the pin and stayed kind of, you know, within that four or five foot circle. It could have gone 15 20 feet by. So, um, yeah, I’m, you know, feel fortunate that it hit the pin. It would have been a bonus if it went in. Did you learn anything out there today that might change your strategy for tomorrow in terms of what? how to play the course or just different holes. Not really. The the course is pretty straightforward. Um, you know, there’s there’s a lot of similar looking T-shots. Fairways are soft. They were soft. Now they’re even softer with the rain. Um, yeah. I mean, I I I would say not really. Maybe on a a few holes, you know, there’s a couple tricky holes where you need to position um on a certain side of the fairway to get a really good angle. Um, yeah. The biggest thing for me honestly is when it gets this hot, just just like I mentioned, the hydration levels. I gota I go through a rotation of gloves. It takes me a little bit to kind of dry everything to to get ready to hit the shot. So, honestly, that’s that’s the biggest thing for me. You mentioned the fairways. Was there any other, I guess, changes you saw from the rain or did it change your approach at all coming out? I got a couple mud balls coming in. Uh the rain obviously makes it much softer, picks up a little more mud, so you might see some mud balls over the next, you know, day or two. Um which could change things. Um I don’t know if they’re going to play it up or down, but um the greens were definitely a little softer. Fairways were softer. How much do you drink on a day like today? I guess how many clubs? A lot. I I went through a rotation of I don’t know any usually I rotate three or four and then when those are kind of soaked, I kind of go through another three or four. I’d say I went through five to eight gloves today. Um, yeah, it was uh and I I drink a lot of hydration. Um, even I have this this salt that I chew. I chew some salt. I hydration packets. Um, you know, probably ballpark 10 hydration kind of hydration packet drinks throughout the day. Couple tonight, couple in the morning right when I wake up. So, yeah, I’m I’m working pretty hard to to just stay hydrated. Um, you mentioned having your family, friends here. Should we expect that number to increase as we get close to the weekend or did you have to like cut it off the Um, I don’t know. I You could probably expect it to increase if I play some good golf. Um, so I’ll uh I’ll put some pressure on some people to to make sure they come out by playing some good golf over the next few days. Thanks, Denny. Thank you.
