Peter

Malnati

Malnati split just three (of 7) fairways on his opening nine but managed seven GIR. From there, he lost 2.4 strokes putting as he tried to play through the back injury. He took 18 swipes with the putter on his nine holes played with four of those coming at the par-4 12th where he carded a double bogey. This will go in the books as just his second career mid-tourney WD, in 235 starts on the PGA TOUR.

Malnati split 8-of-14 fairways and gained 3.4 strokes on approach while battling the elements across his third round which took place on the host course, across two days due to weather. That steady striking led to 16 GIR and he gained 1.7 strokes putting to seal the deal on his great round. He’ll now be in a share of second place with one round remaining which is the best position of his career (T3 after 54 holes twice including his 2015-16 Sanderson Farms win). “I don’t typically do it in the final group or close to it like I’m going to this time. So it will be a little different for me. But, yeah, we do it all the time. Golf doesn’t change any. Like it’s one shot after the next. So I’m going to try to do that the best I can. I’m sure I’ll be pretty hyped up and have a lot of energy and I’ll be -- I know I’m going to be super excited because I’m super excited to play this golf course whether it’s in the final round in the final group or in a practice round on a Wednesday morning, I get super excited. So I’ll obviously have some good energy.” Malnati will play alongside Kurt Kitayama (T2) and Justin Rose (1st) in the final group today.

Malnati has opened the new season with a missed cut, T45, and T72 finishes. He’s picked up just 12 FedExCup Points for his efforts and won’t be adding to that total this week in Bermuda. Malnati has played 61 total events over the last two seasons so we should expect him to be back in action sooner rather than later, but remove him from all weekly fantasy rosters for the Bermuda Championship.

Malnati opened his season with a missed cut in Napa and snagged a T45 last week at the Sanderson Farms Championship. There is no word on what was the cause of this last-minute WD but we will pass that along if the information becomes available. Malnati was rostered on fewer than 1 percent of DraftKings lineups this week but certainly stings for those gamers who took a chance on the elite putter.

The 35-year-old checked in 87th in the FedExCup standings so with his card already secured, this is more about positioning for the 2nd leg of the FEC Playoffs. His career-best finish in the season-long points race is 86th, which he accomplished last season, his seventh on TOUR, and spoke to his current FEC position afterward (link below): “So to have ticked that one off (keeping his card) feels really good, and hopefully now we can start working on some of the bigger goals.” This is the Indiana native’s eighth Wyndham with a best of T20 two tries ago in 2020 (68-65-64-70), where he was T7 thru 54 holes, and camouflaged one bogey today with an eagle-3 at five (28'2") and five birdies on 15 greens in regulation, recording 3.185 SG: Tee-to-Green and 2.310 SG: Putting.

Tee times were moved up in anticipation, utilizing both sets of tees (and preferred lies), so the good news is that all 75 players are/were on the course, some as far along as 16 holes completed. World No. 299 Peter Malnati, who arrived 101st in the FedExCup standings, opened 68-69 (9 birdies, 4 bogeys), equaling his best start in the event in four tries, and had just drained his fourth birdie of the round (against one bogey) at the par-4 10th from 13'1" when play was suspended. When action resumes, he’ll be hitting his tee shot at the lengthy par-4 11th, in search of his first top 10 at the 3M (T46/2019) and his third of the season in 28 events, first since T9 at the AT&T Byron Nelson six starts ago, where he was T15 at halfway and T12 thru 54 holes (64-70-67-66). At the moment, the 35-year-old is up three spots to T6, a distant 10 in arrears of overnight leader Scott Piercy, who’s 5-under thru his first seven and on 18-under total.

The 34-year-old, who camouflaged one bogey with seven birdies on Sunday, was making his 22nd start of the season and finally nabs a second top 10, first since T7 at the Bermuda Championship 17 starts ago. It is his fifth top 25 as well, improves to 15-for-22 on the campaign, and bags his first result inside the top 50 in the event in his sixth appearance (T59/2018). For the week, the Missouri alum carded rounds of 64-70-67-66, totaled two eagles and 22 birdies against five bogeys, and currently ranks 3rd SG: Putting (7.534), including 1.459 SGP in R4, though 46th SG: Tee-to-Green (1.652), 35th-ranked on approach (1.917) but 51st off-the-tee (-0.162). He did not qualify for this coming week’s PGA Championship, so his next start could be right back here in Texas in two weeks at the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Malnati took the FedEx Air-and-Ground approach today as he gained 1.4 strokes off-the-tee (2nd) and 4.2 strokes putting (2nd). He opened at the 10th hole and missed his first two reasonable scoring chances from inside of 13 feet. He instantly turned the tide with four straight conversions from outside of 14 feet. That included a 23'8" splash at the 8th and a 59'5" eagle bomb at the par-5 ninth. He would add an unconventional eagle just four holes later when he holed out from 189 yards. Malnati has felt this coming based on his recent play, “My game for the last couple months has really been feeling very positive. I played some good rounds and haven’t really turned in great scores, even one round like today, or especially not great scores throughout a tournament.” He arrived on the heels of four straight paydays including a T15 at the Mexico Open and looks to be on his way toward cashing another check.

The statement read, “The PGA TOUR announced today that Peter Malnati and Webb Simpson have been elected Co-Chairmen of the Player Advisory Council (PAC) by the TOUR’s membership for the 2022 calendar year. Voting ended on Monday, February 14. The 16-member PAC advises and consults with the PGA TOUR Policy Board (Board of Directors) and Commissioner Jay Monahan on issues affecting the TOUR. Malnati and Simpson, who prevailed over Patrick Cantlay and Billy Horschel, will succeed James Hahn and Kevin Kisner as Player Directors on the PGA TOUR Policy Board next year, serving three-year terms (2023-25). The pair will join Charley Hoffman (2021-23) and Rory McIlroy (2022-24) on the Policy Board. Malnati, 34, is in his eighth season on the PGA TOUR and won the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2015. A two-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour, Malnati finished the 2020-21 season No. 86 in the FedExCup standings, a career best. Simpson has seven wins on the PGA TOUR, highlighted by victories at the 2012 U.S. Open and THE PLAYERS Championship in 2018. Simpson, 36, has qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs in each of the last 13 seasons.”

Malnati gained 2.58 strokes tee-to-green in round one and another 3.2 strokes putting. It was a well-rounded 67 and it was lacking any bogeys. He remained bogey-free today while adding six birdies at the North Course. At the halfway mark he ranks 109th in driving accuracy (12-of-28 fairways) and 69th in GIR Rate (24-of-36, 67%). His short game has been the star of the show which is what you expect from Malnati who ranked 81st in strokes gained around-the-green last season and 57h in putting. Malnati missed the cut in his first four appearances at the Farmers Insurance Open but appears to have figured something out after posting a T10 last year and now finding himself in solo fifth with two rounds to play.