DALLAS _ After sitting at 2-over-par through five holes in the opening round of the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson, Denny McCarthy knew he had to reset mentally.
Five consecutive birdies later, the 26-year-old from Takoma Park, Md., had done exactly that at Trinity Forest Golf Club. Only McCarthy, as it turned out, was just getting started.
By the time he walked off the 18th green and toward the clubhouse, McCarthy had birdied 10 of his final 13 holes on the day _ good for a 6-under-par 29 on the back _ and found himself sitting alone atop the leaderboard with an 8-under-par round of 63 on the scorecard.
An unlikely 63 at that, considering where his game seemed to be headed after the messy start.
"I came out with a mindset that I wanted to be aggressive, and I wasn't," McCarthy said. "After that I just told myself that I was going to play carefree today, have fun with it and let it go, and I did it. I'm pretty proud of myself for just being able to let my mind go after a double-bogey like that."
It hasn't always been smooth sailing for McCarthy, a University of Virginia product who is only in his second year on tour. Aside from a top-10 finish at the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Fla., he hasn't finished higher than tied for 26th in 2019 and has missed six cuts, including last week at the Wells Fargo Championship Charlotte, N.C.
But that adversity hasn't stopped the three-time Maryland Open winner from dreaming big.
Even the small things, like McCarthy's alma mater capturing the 2019 NCAA men's basketball national championship over Texas Tech last month _ a game he was in attendance for _ have provided for some inspiration along the way.
"Things like that and Max Homa at the Wells Fargo last week _ if Max can do that then I can do that," McCarthy said. "All those little things help out in rounds like today."
As Friday and the weekend loom, Trinity Forest, still softened by Wednesday's rain in the area, has the potential to evolve into an entirely different beast _ including tougher greens and the potential for windier conditions in the forecast. For now though, McCarthy is just enjoying the moment as he contends for his first-career PGA Tour victory.
"I've kind of been looking for a round like this just to get me going," McCarthy said. "I know I can be out here playing with the best and today just kind of showed that. It's a good start but we still have three more days to go."
