Achi news desk-
Peter Malnati is a PGA Tour winner again and now he is joined by big names at the Houston Open. In his group for the opening two rounds is Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who is going for this third victory in a row.
But a big part of Malnati is representing the little guy, the career streamers who care so much about competing without seeing golf through the prism of money.
And there’s a lot of it in the game right now, with the disruption of Saudi money funding LIV Golf, and the PGA Tour’s response by creating $20 million signature events for the game’s elite.
Malnati struck a chord with so much for his emotions when he won the Valspar Championship, just his second PGA Tour title and first in more than nine years. He said it was for his family and those who supported him, but also for tournaments that are not unique events in a new era that can leave them “wondering where they fit and if they matter .”
He echoed those thoughts on Wednesday, saying fans are sick of talking about money.
Malnati remembered watching Michael Jordan’s clutch moments with the Chicago Bulls, or Tiger Woods winning the majors in record fashion.
“I didn’t care what Jordan’s contract was. I didn’t care what the winner’s check was at the US Open,” Malnati said. “And I think people are sick of that. I think people are just sick of the narrative in golf about contracts on LIV, purses on the tour, guaranteed comp on the tour. I think people are so sick of that.
“I just feel like no kid when they were watching Jordan dream of getting his salary. They didn’t care about that,” he said. “They dreamed of being in that moment, hitting that shot. I think that’s what our fans care about as well. And that’s what they want to see.”
His comments came a day after Chris DiMarco, a three-time winner on the PGA Tour who has yet to win on the 50 and over PGA Tour Champions circuit, laughed when he said on the “Subpar Podcast” that we kind of hope LIV buys The Champions Tour.”
“Let’s play for some real money out here. I mean, this is kind of a joke when we average $2 million (purses),” DiMarco said. “There were like seven guys last week from TPC (The Players Championship) who made more money than our purses.”
For Malnati, it was career changing in many ways. In his 10th year on the PGA Tour, he has never advanced beyond the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs. He has only played in three majors – never on the weekend – and the win gets him into the Masters for the first time.
He’s also exempt through 2026, a big deal for a man who seems to struggle to keep his full PGA Tour card every year.
His career earnings are now just over $9.9 million, just over half of what Viktor Hovland got last year from winning the FedEx Cup. Scheffler has already surpassed Malnati’s career earnings in just three months this year.
For now, he is back to work for Malnati. The Houston Open begins Thursday at Memorial Park, which will be held for the first time since the fall of 2022 because it moved to a new date in the spring leading up to the Masters. The course is different with lush, green grass instead of the Bermuda grass that is typical of Texas in the late summer and fall.
Scheffler is coming off wins at Bay Hill and The Players Championship, and will try to become the first player since Dustin Johnson in 2017 to win three starts in a row.
He said he was exhausted from winning back-to-back weeks on strong courses against strong fields. Scheffler is not one to look further than the next shot, and the chance for three straight wins was not in the forefront of his mind.
“When you show up in a tournament as No. 1, I don’t start with 1 under, I don’t start with 2 under, I start for even,” Scheffler said. “You have to approach the same thing every week. You have to put in the same amount of work, you have to show up.”
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AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)
