Maverick McNealy is ready for his master’s moment. (Jonathan Bachman / Getty Images)
(Jonathan Bachman via Getty Images)
Last year, Maverick McNealy was ranked 102nd in the world, a promising player during a tour full of them. He had not yet won on the PGA Tour, and looking at Scottie Scheffler win another green jacket, he became a wish: Arrive in Augusta next year.
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“The masters last year were difficult to watch for me because I wanted to be there so much,” McNealy told Yahoo Sports this week. “It’s always one of my favorite tournaments to watch, and it really bothered me that it had no tee time.”
McNealy therefore did what every golfer of the era of the 2020s does: nestled with his team at the start of the fall season and made a plan. Their objectives: Enter the Top 60 to qualify for the Beach Pro-Am Pebble and the Genesis Invitational; Enter the top 50 to qualify for masters; And enter the sentry in Kapalua by winning a tournament.
The fall was decent but not spectacular, and the carefully established plans of McNealy separated. With a tournament on the left, the possibilities of hitting your marks decreased.
“We had one of the three locked up by going to Sea Island,” said McNealy, the RSM Classic site, the final tournament of the year, said McNealy. “It’s really just a Mary’s hail collar to try to be locked up the last two. There was really only one position that was going to do it for us.”
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And then McNealy came out and finished in this position – first – and the whole world opened up to him. He jumped until the 31st in the world, and shortly after, he received this envelope of which each golfer dreams: an invitation to masters.
McNealy’s victory in RSM Classic earned him an invitation to Augusta. (Images Kevin C. Cox / Getty)
(Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images)
“I am really delighted to discover one of the cathedrals of the golf course and to see what the masters are,” explains McNealy, who is now classified 16th in the world. “This is something I watched on television, but I know it will be even more incredible in person, and I’m delighted to see how I play the golf course.”
Since the arrival of the invitation, McNealy has plotted the strategy, looking at old YouTube videos and working on his Shot Arsenal to prepare for the course. “Sometimes it is not super relevant to watch a major of 12 years ago, because the game played differently and that the course has changed,” he said. “But the bones of (Augusta national) and the way it is played is really the same.”
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The guests have the opportunity to play the course in advance, and McNealy set it for the first time last Monday. “I am delighted to expand my field of vision for some of the short game plans around the Greens,” he said. “I think there is a reason why a guy like Jordan Spieth was very successful in his first masters, because he sees blows like that all the time.”
Work in favor of McNealy: his putting game. “I had a little success on the fast and sloping greens with a lot of break,” he says, “and I think that having a very good speed control will help me differentiate.”
When he arrives in Augusta on Monday, McNealy will focus on his swing at the start of the week, and his put and green reading more he gets closer to Thursday.
“I’m going to play new every day, and according to the new people I want to see twice, I will do it,” he said. “I just want to make sure not to do too much the first two days and to be so excited. Who would not want to play 18, 18, 18? I hope it is not my only one and I have a lot of cracks during this tournament.”
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He also plans to play in the competition par-3, with his wife Maya Caddying for him. “I’m going to be judicious with my energy during the week, because I know it will be a very high and high fun week,” he said. “Make sure I have a lot left in the tank for Saturday and Sunday if I need it. But I would certainly regret not having enjoyed everything I could from my first masters.”
Along the way, he will avoid practicing in the areas that he and his team call the “Ticket Counter Delta” – as in, if you hit him there, you go to the Delta ticketing on Saturday morning to change your flight outside the city.
“The philosophy is, prepare yourself as if you were going to be in the top 10 and try to operate the ranking, because these shots are much more precious than those when you are in 55th place.”
Before arriving in Augusta, however, there is the small question of Valero Texas Open this week. Some pros prefer to take the weekend, but McNealy thinks he is prosperous with a more coherent activity.
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“There is nothing better than playing in the conditions of PGA Tour on a PGA Tour configuration to prepare for a major championship,” he said. “There is nothing like the competition to really reveal the nuts and bulk bolts that you have to tighten.” (After publishing a first round of 4 sous, he stood in T6, five strokes of leader Sam Ryder.)
The figures support McNealy’s belief in constant competition. His best results recently came after playing several weeks in short succession. The RSM victory was his fifth tournament in six weeks; Earlier this year, he finished T9 and Solo in second position in WM Open and The Genesis, his third and fourth consecutive tournaments on the West Coast Swing. Masters will come across the third week of its current race.
For the moment, there is Valero, then he will head east for Augusta. At that time, he will face his first crucial decision of the week: what song will play as he exceeds Magnolia Drive for the first time as a player.
“My wife and I are on a kick from Morgan Wallen at the moment,” he said, laughing, “so it will probably be one of them. I am quite excited for that. ”
