Maverick McNealy and spouse Maya in November after his win on the RSM Traditional.
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Successful is difficult.
Successful is difficult. Successful is difficult. Successful is difficult. Successful is difficult. Successful is difficult.
Successful is difficult.
Maverick McNealy mentioned it, and Maya, his spouse, heard it — usually. (In the event you hadn’t observed, the variety of sentences that begin this text characterize the variety of years the previous didn’t end an occasion on prime as a professional.) And, to his protection, profitable is arduous. They’re may be solely one winner, proper? It’s the fantastic thing about sports activities. And its wart. Just one? Why not a dozen? You wouldn’t fault McNealy for a minimum of questioning one thing like that. For years, he’d been on the prime of almost everybody’s checklist of finest gamers to by no means win, a compilation you don’t thoughts spending some time on, simply not, , for years.
Then, he wasn’t. In November, on the RSM Traditional, the final PGA Tour event of 2024, he gained. Epically too. McNealy had been tied with three different professionals on the 18th gap of the ultimate spherical, earlier than dropping a 7-iron from 185 yards out to five toes, 5 inches that led to a birdie and a maiden victory.
Lastly. Because of some recommendation from Maya.
Tuesday, the professional was reminiscing about all of it. This week, they’re enjoying the Sentry, the lid-lifter for the Tour season, and it’s naturally a time to look forward. And look again. It’s half celebration. And half duplication. You need to perceive what labored and run it again many times.
For McNealy, it was a 15-word heart-to-heart.
“I undoubtedly appreciated the win as a result of I spotted how onerous it’s to win,” McNealy mentioned. “I really obtained to the purpose the place my spouse is, like, ‘Cease speaking about how onerous it’s — simply exit and do what you’re doing.’ That was the large lesson, was that I didn’t do something otherwise than what I’ve been doing — it simply all type of fell into place.
“I had plenty of probabilities. I don’t know, I wasn’t actually apprehensive about not having gained. I wasn’t actually considering any much less. I figured it will most likely occur — simply wanted some stuff to go proper. And in addition type of determine that the primary one’s most likely the toughest, most likely like your first main no matter, every milestone.”
A thought from his youthful brother, Scout, helped too. He’s his caddie, and the professional mentioned he thinks a bit linearly. “My type of engineering mind,” he known as it. To that finish, he believed his profession would seem like this: Get card, preserve card, begin making cuts, begin ending within the prime 10, begin enjoying within the last group, begin ending close to the highest, begin profitable. However who’s to say you possibly can’t simply win now, Scout mentioned. Skip no matter steps in between. Then he did.
Like he’d envisioned.
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“I’ve at all times thought that I had an opportunity to be a extremely, actually good participant,” McNealy mentioned, “as a result of at each level, or at any level all through my profession, I really feel like I’ve been elite in a single a part of the sport, simply not all on the identical time. I’ve pushed it nice, 2021 to 2022; method play was actually good in school; brief recreation has been actually good these days; and in 2023, I used to be No. 1 in placing.
“So I really feel like all of the items have been there, simply not collectively directly. So I believe I’ve accomplished a greater job of determining. Working with [coach] Scotty Hamilton, particularly on the golf swing, was the largest piece that’s been lacking. Determining what it was that I wanted to get again to elite ball hanging, and that’s what was holding me again for the final little bit.”
Was McNealy nervous on the RSM? For positive, he mentioned. However he additionally mentioned Tuesday that he’d watched a replay of the ultimate spherical of final 12 months’s 3M Open — the place he contended earlier than tying for third — and noticed one thing. He mentioned he seemed calm, whereas others didn’t — so “they should have been actually feeling it. So I simply type of took that to coronary heart the place everyone’s nervous, everyone’s uncomfortable.”
The shot on 18 on the RSM then went all the way down to what Maya had informed him.
“Standing over the 6-iron on 18, I simply executed precisely as I’ve been doing as a result of it’s been working and it’s been actually good,” McNealy mentioned. “Standing over the putt, I used to be like, I’m actually nervous proper now, however that doesn’t imply I’m going to hit a nasty putt, that has no bearing on me executing the shot any worse than I might. So simply type of went by my routine and it got here off good.”
One last item:
What number of occasions has he gone again and watched that putt?
“Most likely 10 or 12,” McNealy mentioned. “It’s been fairly enjoyable. Generally if I’m simply bored on the vary I’m like, ‘Oh, that was fairly cool, that’s enjoyable.’”
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