In the hopes of advancing to the Tour Championship, golfer Denny McCarthy returned home.

McCarthy, a Rockville native, was one of 49 golfers to tee it up at Caves Valley Golf Club for the BMW Championship on Thursday. It’s the last tournament before the playoff finale. The top 30 players in the FedEx Cup points standings will advance to Atlanta. McCarthy began the tournament 38th.

His first hole went worse than he wanted. As he was lining up his third shot on the par-4, he muttered about fans crowding his line of sight (though all were behind the ropes).

His shot went wide, and he let out an expletive. He took a bogey and made his way to the second tee.

There, he hit a good drive. A crowd of 50 or so avid fans, most of whom seemed to be from Maryland and wanted to support a local player, cheered.

“Oh, yeah, that’s so perfect,” a boy in the crowd said.

Before the first round started, McCarthy clarified Wednesday that there wasn’t a home-course advantage. He’s played Caves Valley three or four times, and the last was eight years ago.

He isn’t staying at home, more than an hour away with no traffic. “And, as we all know from this area, there’s always traffic,” he said.

McCarthy began playing competitive junior golf at age 10, primarily in tournaments run by the Maryland State Golf Association and Mid-Atlantic Golf Association. He said he didn’t start playing American Junior Golf Association events until late in his high school career at Georgetown Preparatory School in Montgomery County.

Being one of the top players on the local circuits was good preparation, McCarthy said.

“It got to the point where I felt like people would consider me as the favorite,” he said. “I had a target on my back. I felt a little pressure. It was fun to go out for me and perform under that pressure.”

Stepping up to the AJGA, where he played against the likes of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, helped solidify his career path.

“My first couple AJGAs, in big tournaments, I was right there having chances to compete to win,” he said. “It was good confirmation for me. It was a booster, look, I’m definitely on the right path. I’m at a good spot in my career. How do we keep getting better?”

He attended the University of Virginia and was an All-American twice. In 2010, he played on the junior Ryder Cup team.

Four years later, he helped the USA win the World Amateur Team Championship with teammates Beau Hossler and Bryson DeChambeau.

He turned pro after his graduation from UVA, but it took three years for him to qualify for the PGA Tour. Since then, he’s made more than $21 million in official winnings.

McCarthy, 32, has finished in the top 10 29 times and in the top five nine times. He’s been a runner-up twice, most notably in April 2024 at the Valero Texas Open. There, he lost in a playoff to Akshay Bhatia.

Until now, he’s come just shy of the Tour Championship. In the last three years, McCarthy said, it’s come down to needing a good round right before the finish line. He just hasn’t finished high enough.

He’s hoping this might be the year. He’ll have to do something special at Caves Valley.

“I think it would be really special. I’m going to have a home crowd here this week. I’m going to have a lot of friends and family. To be able to do that in front of them would be incredible.”

A couple of top-10 finishes this season and another eight in the top 25 helped him qualify for the playoffs this season.

He tied for 32nd at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis last week to open the three-leg playoffs. In the first round of the BMW Championship, he shot an even-par 70 on a Caves Valley course that was plenty challenging for the best players in the world.

That moved him up one place in the projected standings.

After his bogey on No. 1, he recorded two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine to make the turn at 1 over.

Following a two-hour rain delay, he came out on the back cleaner. Switching out his Maryland flag belt for a navy blue one, he started the par-4 11th hole by tossing out waters out of the cooler to fans who had accompanied him thus far.

Then, when he went to putt, the same fans exchanged the favor with cheers. As the ball rolled into the hole, one yelled, “Stay in there. Stay in there. Yeah! Let’s go, Denny.”

He also birdied the par-5 16th.

But his approach on 18 found the left rough and his chip didn’t make the putting surface. His second attempt hit the pin and left 3 1/2 feet for a disappointing bogey to finish.

“It would have been a bonus if it went in,” McCarthy said of the second chip after his round. “I feel somewhat fortunate that it hit the pin and stayed within that 4- or 5-foot circle. It could have gone 15, 20 feet by.”

Reflecting on the day, McCarthy said he had a supportive crowd and there were friends and family members on the property whom he got to hang out with when inclement weather halted play in the midafternoon.

He said more friends and family might come out for the weekend if he climbs the leaderboard.

“I’ll put some pressure on some people to make sure they come out by playing some good golf over the next few days,” he said.