Maverick

McNealy

McNealy shared the news via social media. “I tore my left anterior sterno-clavicular ligament in February this year. After a brief period of improvement, it worsened in Canada to the point that I did not think it was a good idea to continue playing.” He will be doing some physical training and cardio to get ready for his return but there is no specific date set at this time. He signed off with “Hope to see everyone back out on the course sometime this Fall!” He was 87th in the FedExCup race but you could tell his injury was bothering him for months now. His weekly driving distance average was longer than the field in five of his first six starts this season but shorter than the field in 6-of-10 since Pebble.

McNealy entered the week off a ho-hum T60 at THE PLAYERS. It was his first start since returning from a shoulder injury (back-to-back WDs). “I’ve been putting and chipping it really well coming in. I was really happy to see that those tools have stayed sharp for me. Driver speed’s coming back still probably not a hundred percent. Just subconsciously not wanting to rip at it completely full. Especially these golf courses, you don’t need to hit it 185 ball speed, you just got to get it in play and leave it on the right side of the hole and chip and putt. So I’ve been just really, really grateful to be back out and playing and having a ton of fun with it.” McNealy went on to compare the Copperhead Course to the course he grew up on back home, so this could be a case of love at first sight outweighing the lack of course experience.

McNealy arrived on the heels of three straight top 20s and he kept his foot on the gas in round one of the Mayakoba. His striking stats were only middle of the road (12 GIR, T54) but was still able to find five birdies and an eagle (par-5 fifth) which erased a lone bogey. The Stanford product has now been inside of the top 10 after round one in three of his last four starts. He also arrived with back-to-back top 15s on his tournament resume despite being T36 after R1 in both of those events. McNealy remains in the hunt for his coveted maiden win on the PGA TOUR.

McNealy has dropped just one shot through 36 holes, that coming Friday when his tee shot on the par-3 fifth hole found the penalty area. It’s been all circles otherwise, as the former Stanford product heads into the weekend in a tie for third at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, two shots behind overnight leader Mito Pereira. McNealy has been a menace on the greens, leading the field in SG: Putting (+7.171) through 36 holes, and it’s a big reason why he has a chance to nab his maiden victory this weekend in his 95th career start on Tour. McNealy has largely struggled at TPC Summerlin prior to this week, missing the cut in three of his four prior appearances, but he’s had no such issues through the first two rounds despite entering off a missed cut at another familiar spot (Napa) in his most recent start.

The Las Vegas resident is comfortable at TPC Summerlin and it showed today, especially on the greens. He walked off the course ranked 1st in strokes gained putting (+4.5) thanks to a four-pack of putts converted from outside of 13 feet. That included a 43-foot birdie bomb at the 12th. When asked how many times he has played TPC Summerlin he did some quick math, “Well, I’m home 15 to 16 weeks a year. I probably play it minimum twice a week when I’m home. So 30 by five. 100 to 150 times.” McNealy has two runner-up finishes on his PGA TOUR resume but continues to search for his maiden win.

A total of 75 pros from a field of 155 pros and one amateur made the 36-hole cut of 3-under 141, 17 (T59) on the number. McNealy, a pre-tourney 33/1 outright and playing his sixth straight week on TOUR, had recorded a pair of top 25s in two prior visits, including a T8 in 2020, and misses his fifth cut of the season in 25 events, first since the Travelers, which began this run of six events in a row. After kicking off with 3-over 75 (2 birdies, 5 bogeys), he outpaced two squares on Day 2 with five birdies, but the damage was already done, ending the short week ranked 41st SG: Putting (1.909) but 139th SG: Tee-to-Green (-4.173). Other notable early exits include: 142- Harris English; Mark Hubbard; Gary Woodland .. 143- Kevin Kisner; Matt Kuchar .. 144- Davis Riley; Chesson Hadley; Denny McCarthy .. 146- Nick Hardy .. 147- Joel Dahmen; Rickie Fowler; Greyson Sigg .. 148- C.T. Pan.

McNealy looked like he may join Chez Reavie at the top when he opened his afternoon with back-to-back birdies but the scoring stalled from there. Being out of position was a problem as he split just 7-of-14 fairways and did well just to land 12 GIR. The Stanford product entered the week ranked 18th in birdies per round and 3rd on TOUR in eagle rate. It’s not too surprising then to see him hanging around near the top of the leaderboard in this Modified Stableford event which puts a premium on birdies and eagles. McNealy has a pair of runner-up finishes on his PGA TOUR resume (2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and 2021 Fortinet Championship) but is still searching for his breakout win on the big stage.

McNealy started his morning on the 10th tee and swallowed a bogey on his opening hole. He slowly recovered with two birdies and one bogey over his next 10 holes. The fireworks happened late though. “I hit a perfect pitching wedge, it was actually a perfect one, one-hopped in the hole for an eagle on I guess that would be 5, and then I hit two great shots and almost made an eagle putt, made birdie on 6, and then nice up-and-down for birdie on 8, and that was basically my day right there. It was 9 points in my last five holes.” McNealy’s hole-out eagle certainly sparked a late rally and he’ll look to keep that momentum rolling tomorrow afternoon. The long length between rounds could be good for him as he tries to get normalize his sleep schedule after flying from Illinois to Scotland back to Tahoe over the last few weeks.

The Stanford product, who arrived off consecutive missed cuts at the Charles Schwab and the Travelers, gets back on track with his third top 10 of the season in 21 events, first since T7 at The Genesis Invite 11 starts ago in February. This was his third Deere and third cash, bettering a T18 last year, and got there by posting rounds of 70, career-tying- and day-tying-low 63, 68-68. For the week, the 26-year-old tallied 22 birdies against seven bogeys, five versus two on Sunday, and at last check, ranks 28th SG: Tee-to-Green (3.788) and 9th SG: Putting (5.877), including a 1.073 SGP in R4. He is in the published field at this coming week’s Genesis Scottish Open.

The 26-year-old matches his career low (x3) in 274 rounds and also has the low lap in the clubhouse. He nearly recorded a new career low, bogey-free 9-under thru 15 holes, but ending his scoring with a 3-putt bogey-4 at 7 (from 73'6") and a couple of routine pars at 8 and 9. On 11 (of 14) fairways and 16 greens in regulation, the Stanford product circled holes 11, 14, 15, 18, 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, three from between 10 and 20 feet, posting 5.316 SG: Tee-to-Green and 0.839 SG: Putting with 28 total putts, lowlighted by a 3-putt par at the par-5 17th (from 44'1") and buoyed by a 12'5" par-saver at 13. This is his third time this season in 21 events that he’s in the top 10 thru 36 holes, first since the Genesis Invitational nine stroke-play starts ago, where he was T10 before finishing T7 (68-68-67-69).