It was a career week for second year PGA Tour pro and KPMG ambassador Maverick McNealy.
Finishing at 16-under par in solo second place, the best result of his PGA Tour career, McNealy put on a show at the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. McNealy’s game really flourished in Sunday’s final round, where he carded a six under 66, highlighted by a five-birdie, five-under performance on the back nine.
“I’ve always been a guy where I have to earn my own confidence, and I earned a lot today,” McNealy said. “I was really proud of myself today, really proud of that back nine, especially how I got things going after stalling early. I think I figured out a way to manage myself and channel all the things I was feeling into playing better golf coming down the stretch.”
As a 16th birthday present, McNealy was provided the opportunity to play Pebble Beach Golf Links for the first time. It’s a golf course that feels like home to the McNealy, and it’s no surprise that the best two results of his PGA Tour career (T-5 in 2020) have come at the legendary venue.
“I love everything about the west coast here,” McNealy said. “I love playing on poa, I love some cold heavy wind, and these are conditions that I’m really comfortable with and have played a lot in.”
McNealy’s second place finish vaulted his FedEx Cup ranking 63 spots from 93rd to 30th, and he hopes to build on this performance to really kick on in his sophomore season, which continues this week at the Genesis Open in Los Angeles.
“This is a step forward and definitely a step in the right direction,” McNealy said. “I learned a lot today. I knew that was going to happen with starting in the position I was in, but I think I found a recipe that’s going to be pretty good and is going to serve me well going forward. I learned a lot about my tendencies in these situations, and I just can’t wait to get back in this situation.”
Congratulations to Maverick on a stellar performance and best of luck this week at Riviera!