GOLF: Matt McCarty in front as weather interrupts Truist Championship

Matt McCarty is the surprise leader at the Truist Championship with play suspended on Thursday in Charlotte.

McCarty birdied his last three holes to fire an 8-under-par 63 at Quail Hollow Club. South Korea's Sungjae Im was on his tail after eagling his third-to-last hole (No. 7) to leap to 7 under.

After Im parred the eighth and hit his tee shot at No. 9, the event was suspended due to inclement weather with 20 of the 72 golfers in the no-cut signature event field yet to finish their rounds.

Those 20 players will return Friday morning to complete their rounds before the second round tees off.

McCarty made a whopping 220 feet of putts Thursday, the most in a single round on tour this season. That included a 52 1/2-footer for birdie at the par-3 13th, a 60-footer for birdie at the par-4 16th and another 52-footer at the par-3 17th.

"I spent a lot of time the last couple days lag putting on these greens because you know you're going to have a lot of 'club in' and not be as close as normal," McCarty said. "I guess that kind of paid off.

"Honestly, I felt like they were a little too quick for me, so I think this rain slowed 'em down to a perfect amount."

Finishing on the par-4, 539-yard ninth hole, McCarty hit his second shot from 243 yards away and stuck it 2 1/2 feet from the pin to set up a tap-in birdie. McCarty was apologetic after the fact, as the group in front of him had not yet finished up the hole.

"I feel really bad about that. Like, just didn't see those guys," McCarty said. "I mean, (his playing partners) didn't see 'em either. So I guess I just kind of hit it in there. But yeah, you never want to hit into anybody, but I'm glad I didn't push it and actually hit somebody and that I hit it to a couple feet. It was a good finish."

McCarty, 28, won his only PGA Tour title at the Black Desert Championship in October 2024, shortly after he was promoted from the Korn Ferry Tour.

Canada's Nick Taylor, England's Harry Hall, Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard and Norway's Kristoffer Reitan are tied for third at 5-under 66. Austria's Sepp Straka, the defending champion, is also 5 under through 17 holes and has a 6-foot par putt to finish up on No. 18.

Tony Finau, David Lipsky, Canada's Corey Conners and Englishmen Tommy Fleetwood and Alex Fitzpatrick shot 4-under 67. A win this week for Finau would gain him entry into the PGA Championship; he is currently the fifth alternate.

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, a four-time winner at Quail Hollow, opened with a 1-under 70. The World No. 2 made 17 consecutive pars before holing a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 9 to end his round.

"I wasn't frustrated, I was hitting good putts," McIlroy said after losing 0.698 strokes putting to the field. "Some days they just don't want to go in. ... I was just trying to stay patient because felt like I was hitting good putts, I over-read a couple on the front side. Then I under-read a couple as a reaction to the over-reads."

-Field Level Media/Reuters