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.