Maverick McNealy, who won The RSM Classic for the first time on Sunday with a 5 1/2-foot birdie putt, says he has about 15 people on his payroll, including his analytics guy, caddie/kid brother Scout, swing coach, physio, agent, and others.
McNealy, an avid hockey fan, values teamwork.
“My parents have always viewed me and my three brothers as a team. And everything I recall is family-related. I miss playing collegiate golf with a team. This year, I felt like I had a stronger crew behind me than at any other moment in my golf career. That, I believe, has made a significant difference for me.” he said after making his first win in his 142nd PGA TOUR start, securing spots in The Sentry, Masters Tournament and PGA Championship next year.
However, it is not enough to simply have a team; it is also necessary to have the appropriate team. McNealy is freshly married; he and his wife Maya will celebrate their one-year anniversary on December 6. Scout only started using the bag this autumn.
Scott Hamilton, a long-time teacher in Cartersville, Georgia, also coaches Chris Kirk, among many others. Hamilton invites incoming students to email him a video of their best performances, which he did with McNealy.
This was nearly two years ago, and one thing stuck up right away: McNealy, who had won a men’s school record 11 times at Stanford, didn’t look the same.
“I’m not sure how it happened, but his swing became so low that it was hurting him. His left shoulder rocketed up in the air, and he put a lot of pressure on the shaft, which pushed his clavicle up. He went around and rubbed his shoulder.” Coach Hamilton said.
McNealy had to withdraw from competitive golf last year. After tearing a ligament in his left shoulder, he decided to repair it using biomechanical analysis, stem cell therapy, and, most importantly, a new swing.
Although McNealy had been a hard worker for years, he acknowledged to have the full-swing yips in 2018, implying that his labour had only just begun.
“When I first started working with him, he couldn’t even take a divot; he’d hit it fat or flare it high in the air, and I realised that if we could just figure out his ball-striking, his short game would be difficult to beat.” Hamilton said.
The coach instructed him to stand taller, move the plane steeper, and get more on top of the ball. The goal was to eliminate both the shoulder ache and the inconsistent shots.
McNealy’s natural stroke shape evolved into a fade, and by staying on top of the ball, he was able to better control his trajectory, which is critical in the wind.
He sent some videos from Bermuda, where it was pumpin’. And he stated, ‘I can hit some shots I haven’t seen in a long time’.
McNealy’s victory putt on Sunday was helped in part by bogeys on the 18th hole by amateur Luke Clanton and two-time TOUR winner Nico Echavarria, who were two groups ahead. That opened the door for McNealy, whose final complete swing, a 6-iron from 185 yards that halted 5 feet, 5 inches away, demonstrated his progress with Hamilton.
“The exciting element for me is that the iron play has been trending extremely well over the previous four to six weeks, if not the last couple of months. That was undoubtedly the missing piece that was holding me back from winning. During my free time, I made significant progress from swinging right to swinging left.” he said after ranking 6th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green this week.
For a while, it appeared that McNealy might fall short. He missed a 4-foot birdie putt on the 15th par-5 hole. Caddie and his younger brother Scout, undeterred, cracked a joke to lighten the atmosphere as McNealy lined up another birdie putt on No. 17. He missed.
Scout is still relatively new to the bag, and his intention was to work the FedExCup Fall and then move on with his life. McNealy persuaded him to stay on.
“We are having some of the most fun ever.” McNealy said.
The RSM Classic is the final tournament of the season, and thus the last chance for players to break into the top 125 in the FedExCup and keep their PGA TOUR cards. It’s also the deadline for the all-important Aon Next 10 (Nos. 51-60) and entrance into two early season Signature Events.
McNealy began the week ranked 52nd in the FedExCup Fall, which meant he had not only secured his card for the following season, but he was also almost certain to finish in the Aon Next 10 and qualify for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational. He and Scout joked that the best he could do was finish 51st, which became their rallying cry. Let’s do it. Let us get to 51st.
McNealy, a PGA TOUR champ, accomplished much more than that.
