Peter Malnati can now exhale more easily. He will now be able to play in his preferred major of the season after his thrilling, hard-fought victory on Sunday at the Valspar Championship, when he shot 4-under 67 and won by two at the challenging Copperhead Course in Innisbrook. He finished the round with four birdies on his last nine.
Yes, Malnati, a 36-year-old golf journeyman with his yellow golf ball and floppy bucket hat, is assured a spot in the summer’s Travellers Championship, a reduced-field Signature Event held on what he believes to be the most entertaining golf course on the PGA TOUR, TPC River Highlands in Connecticut. Malnati is a repeat winner on the PGA TOUR.
“It’s my major. I will probably accept it” Malnati stated, having never played the game before in his 10-year TOUR career. In three weeks he should also get an invitation to the Masters in Georgia.
Just two players out of 154 beginning players have finished more than 10 strokes below par, and if TPC River Highlands is the site he wants to play every day when he is 75 years old, then what about the Copperhead, which he had just recently conquered ? He enjoys everything the competition has to offer, appreciates it, and even kind of fears it. The Valspar, the final event of the four-tournament Florida Swing, is another deeply ingrained, meaningful TOUR event that has the potential to have a big influence on its Tampa Bay neighbourhood.
When asked about the course ; “It is a true brute. Fun, might not necessarily be the word I use. Its amazing, but very stressful.” Malnati said.
With his wife, Alicia, and two small children watching from next to the 18th green, it became enjoyable once he held that bronze snake trophy in his arms. Malnati had never prevailed as a father before. Last summer, his 4-year-old son Hatcher suggested that he play with a yellow ball, and the paint firm Valspar claims to be the most colourful event on the schedule.
This was one of those occasions when Malnati practices and strives to taste perfection. Every time he pulls out of the driveway at home to board a plane to yet another city, he considers winning. Currently ranked 135th in Driving Distance and 184th in OWGR, it is difficult for a player in his mid-30s to win on the TOUR these days because of the influx of youthful talent. He acknowledged that things have gotten considerably harder since he won his first medal at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Mississippi in 2015.
Malnati had begun the day at Valspar two strokes behind leader Keith Mitchell in the penultimate group. After 72 holes, he ended at 12-under 272, two better than rookie sensation Cameron Young, who put up a solid game (68) but was still two wins away from his maiden championship.
On Sunday, rookie Chandler Phillips shot 69 to tie for third place with Canadian Mackenzie Hughes, who birdied his final hole for a score of 70. It was Phillips’ finest performance on the TOUR to date. As was to be expected, Sunday was crazy, with multiple lead changes.
Malnati lingered on the first nine holes before taking action following the turn. He set his birdies at Nos. 10 and 11 with wedges blasted in close. He had 15 feet for a third straight birdie at the par-4 12th. He chose an aggressive line, but he was certain he did not get the putt to the hole. Disappointed with his own effort, he hastily averted his gaze, but the scream of the crowd soon informed him otherwise. The yellow ball had fallen into the cup.
“I was doing something I don’t know. He put his hands a foot apart, so I knew the ball would stop here and I was going to tap it in, so I wasn’t watching it roll. Then I heard the audience go crazy, and I thought, “All right.” That was cool, then. Fantastic little bonus” he said.
As Malnati advanced to the par-3 17th hole and Young prepared for his tee shot at the par-4 18th, the two players were tied at 11 under. Malnati, who needed to cover 208 yards with a tee shot, considered shooting the 4-iron but, fired up, grabbed the 5-iron instead. With his ball landing six feet away from the hole, he may have made the shot of his life. He needed to make the birdie putt to make the shot great, and he did, finishing at 12-under. He drifted to the following tee. He claimed that ever since leaving the 12th green, he had been trembling and was doing everything in his power to stay focused and make good swings.
“He struck the ball so beautifully today. He putted incredibly well all day long and maintained his composure and rhythm. He had a great play on that back nine. Considering where we were in the tournament, that number 17 birdie was enormous. It gave us a little cushion.” his caddie for seven years, Chad Antus, remarked.
And all he would require was a small pillow. Young erred on his tee shot at number 18, leaving him little in the shade of trees, bushes, and concession tents up ahead. Using a punch gap wedge, he managed to get the green’s right front edge, but he misread his par putt from 9 feet away and 3-putted from 51 feet. Young had performed admirably to be present, but she fell short once more. Young maintained his momentum from the 4th tee to the 14th green, hitting 4 birdies to put pressure on everyone in the lead. Then he would bogey the final one because he had simply run out of birdies.
If it was any comfort, Young said he was proud of the way he had managed his feelings throughout the week and that he was the only player on the pitch to shoot 4 rounds in the 60s. It wasn’t right after the finish.
When questioned about his feelings following his 7th consecutive second-place performance ;
“Sincerely, I realised fairly soon that I wasn’t going to win, and whatever feelings are associated with that, I have a four-hour journey home (to south Florida) with a one- and a two-year-old.” he said.
Malnati had also waited patiently, and it was his day to celebrate. After more than eight years, he was suddenly granted exemption until 2026, which implies he would play for at 12 years on a circuit he never really considered entering in the first place.
At the neighbourhood municipal course, many young golfers stand on the greens and imagine making the kind of putt that would win the Masters or the U.S. Open. Malnati wasn’t particularly fond of golf. It was more likely that he was hurling a ball against a wall, imagining himself to be playing shortstop like Omar Vizquel, or he was posing as Michael Jordan and shooting hoops by himself in his driveway. His dreams were not like most when he did dream of winning a golf tournament someday. He imagined his wife and small family running out to join him in his happy moment.
It’s exactly what he saw on Sunday at Valspar. He was ahead by two and, standing on the 18th green approximately 25 feet away for birdie, he thought he would win. He felt he was lucky to have just inches left to make par after coming dangerously close to holeing the birdie putt. He made the final putt while crying since by that point he had seen his family waiting for him on the edge of the green.
“You never know when an opportunity like this will present itself again. It’s quite incredible that the fantasy came true.” Malnati said.
Malnati then praised the “smaller” events, like the Valspars of the world, that make up the PGA TOUR schedule.
“This victory, in my opinion, is primarily mine to celebrate. My squad of supporters, my family, and my caddy are all the reasons behind it. However, on a bigger scale, it’s also for Valspar, Tampa, the Copperheads, and other PGA TOUR events that find themselves in this new ecology and are unsure of their place and significance.
There are many more Peter Malnatis out there that, at the age of ten or fifteen, who aspire to play golf on the PGA TOUR and want to experience what I recently had. We wouldn’t have those moments if there weren’t sponsors who support the PGA TOUR and communities who value what the tour does.” Malnati said.
After that, the Malnatis had to take a plane back home, and on Tuesday, Peter will fly to Houston for the Texas Children’s Houston Open, when he will repeat the same process. The competitor in him is eager to put in the work necessary for the next victory, and he has no intention of waiting more than eight years to do it. It was that pleasant.
