“When I saw my pair come out, I joked, ‘Right, it makes sense for them to put all the best hitters on tour in one group, and they’re going to put my I want to get them in there, just compete to see if I hit the ball.’ And Scotty and Will, it’s going to be great.”
He was referring to his playing partners in this week’s Texas Kids Tournament in Houston, Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris, two of the Lone Star State’s biggest and brightest pros. Over the past four years, Scheffler and Zalatoriz have finished in the top eight 14 times in 23 major league starts. Malnati, who is 10 years older, played in three major tournaments during his career but never had success.
Malnati’s career took a turn Sunday at the Valspar Championship when he made it to the back nine and won by two strokes, earning him the second PGA Tour title of his career. With this win, he moved up to No. 65 in the world and cracked the top 100 for the first time.
This resulted in him being exempted from the tour for two years. This earned him an invitation to the Masters. He will also participate in the tour’s flagship events for the remainder of the season.
And of course, there was the $1.51 million winner’s check.
But what stayed in the hearts of golf fans was the moment of victory and the tearful interview Malnati gave on the green 18 minutes after the win. “You wonder if you’re going to do it again because it’s so hard,” she told NBC’s Kira Dixon while holding her son. He talked about his caddy, his wife, his children, and his gratitude. “Life is hard, of course times like this are fascinating and it’s my dream job and it’s really great. But life is really, really hard, and when you’re living this lifestyle and having two kids and trying to figure out how to be what you want to be, it’s really hard… It’s so great. ”
There was little talk of Valspar in the sports world last weekend. There was a lull between The Players Championship and the Masters, the field was OK but not great, Sunday’s contenders lacked star power, and the early rounds of March Madness were sluggish in the ratings. dominated the discussion.
But Malnati’s moment surprised viewers. His interview went viral on social media. The story had a depth that attracted people. It was clearly a career-defining moment, and Malnati’s real-time assessment is that the moment had a different meaning than, say, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler’s dramatic win at TPC Sawgrass a week later. I proved that.
Malnati said she was contacted in the days that followed, “I can’t say how many.” So why did he think it would leave such a mark? It’s clear from his response that he thought about it a lot. “We all probably remember when we were kids, and we were kids at different times, and we looked at what excited us,” he said in Houston. He said this at a press conference on Wednesday. “I remember watching (Michael) Jordan and the 1997 Bulls, and I remember watching Tiger at the 2000 Masters. I didn’t care about Jordan’s contract at all. I didn’t care about the U.S. Open winner’s check at all.
And I think people are tired of it. I think people are simply tired of the golf narrative of LIV contracts, tour purses, guaranteed tour prize money, etc. I think people are really fed up with it. They want to watch sports, they want to see the best people in the world at what they do doing it at a high level, and they want to celebrate it, they want to celebrate athleticism, they want to celebrate success. “Obviously, this is a business and for the key players who bring so much value to this business, we need to compensate them fairly and we need to enable them to do that.
We are doing the best we can, and we believe that stories, plots, and conversations should be reflected in course products and our activities. “For me, I think it was something that no one would have ever dreamed of. They didn’t care that they saw Jordan dreaming about his salary. I was standing there and dreaming of making this throw. I think that’s what our fans are interested in and what they want to see. ”
The multi-billion dollar question then becomes: “Is he right?” Are fans hungry for stories like Malnati’s? And should the tour be structured so that these stories are prioritized?
This is an important question as the world of professional golf considers its future. This is an important issue.
That’s because the PGA Tour determines the number of players on the course, the cap on the course, and how and how much players should be paid for their services. This is an important issue. Because even though golfers are getting paid more and more, there is still no evidence that more money attracts more spectators.
And this is a very important question, given that Malnati is a member of the Tours Political Council and is currently tasked with answering it.
Mr. Malnati’s remarks at Wednesday’s press conference went viral, drawing renewed attention among a public tired of talk of money and greed.
However, some critics were not convinced by the premise. In the end, Valspar’s reputation went down. How much of an impact did his victory actually have?
On the other hand, it’s not entirely accurate to link Malnati’s emotional moment to the tournament’s declining television ratings. On Sunday, his coronation (which caused problems with the NCAA) took place minutes before the broadcast was cut off. The public may not know that his victory was what they expected.
And it was clear that this win resonated with those watching and marked his victory on tour. Because it feels good to make the audience leave in a good mood. Perhaps they will consider coming back.
On the other hand, 2024 has seen a fairly consistent decline in ratings. Stories like Malnati’s are great as part of a tour, but a tour cannot be built on the story of Cinderella. Fans respond to meaningful tournaments on familiar courses with leaderboards made up of players they know.
When some famous golfers left for LIV, it hurt the tour they left behind, and even feel-good stories can’t fill that void anytime soon. This is the big leagues, after all, and Malnati himself admitted as much on Wednesday: “Four days ago, nobody cared if Peter Malnati was on the field,” he said. I did.
So what can we learn from Malnati’s moment? It’s actually very simple, and we continue to learn the same lesson. The point is that sports are effective when it matters.
And if it doesn’t matter to the contestants, it doesn’t matter to the viewers. LIV has big money, big stars and a revamped format, but there haven’t been many standout moments.
The Tour’s big flagship event wasn’t a failure, but it also didn’t get off the ground either. Beyond major tournaments, golf’s biggest events are expected to become even more important. Even more serious consequences.
More meaning. Big moments on the big stage can let kids imagine themselves in that moment on stage. Moments that can be earned, pursued, and celebrated once achieved.
