PGA Tour star: “There’s one big reason I don’t envy Rory McIlroy”

Peter Malnati has a big voice as a PGA Tour Player Director.

Peter Malnati is the voice of reason the PGA Tour needs right now. In this exclusive interview, he sounds off about LIV’s “irrational” business model, his unforeseen role as PGA Tour Player Director, and why he wanted out after meeting PIF Governor Yasir-Al Rumayyan for the first time.

On a balmy afternoon ahead of the BMW PGA Championship, PGA Tour star Peter Malnati is telling TG about his first experience of British pub grub. In the three days since flying 4,000 miles to play on the DP World Tour for the first time, he has already tried bangers and mash and fish and chips. Having a roast dinner is next on his bucket list, he explains, before enquiring whether there is caffeine in English breakfast tea. “I feel like I need to have one,” he says casually, “but I try not to have much caffeine as I’m pretty crazy even without it.”

We’re currently sat outside Wentworth’s clubhouse, where our focus is momentarily distracted by a gaggle of celebrities walking in. “That’s Andy Murray,” whispers Malnati excitedly, immediately losing his train of thought. “That’s quite cool, hey.” He should be joining him for lunch following the morning pro-am, but our conversation is taking longer than expected. Malnati is happy to accept some of the blame for that. He is one of golf’s great talkers, the Padraig Harrington of his generation. At the age of 37, this is just his second time visiting the UK. He assures me it won’t be his last.

“I’m loving it,” he says with a huge grin stretched across his face. “Two nights ago, Ryan Fox took me to a really nice pub, and then my caddie and I went out to a proper English pub called The Happy Man. It was small – I don’t want to say run down – it was well used, let’s just say that, but it was so cool.

“That’s been my touristy stuff so far. And then my wife is flying over on Sunday morning. It’s so last minute, but we’re treating it as our 10-year anniversary trip a year late. We’ll go into London, do an open bus tour, then do some things which are not on the tourist trail.”

There is this perception that PGA Tour players don’t like to travel, but Malnati has been yearning for opportunities to play abroad for years. He doesn’t have many regrets, yet a part of him still wishes that he went to European Tour Qualifying School when he had the chance. Instead, he spent his first three years as a professional competing in “little dinky, minor tour events” throughout America. The last 10 years have been far more glamorous, though fatherhood means he has had to park any hopes he once had of being a global golfer. 

“One of my favorite memories of getting to the PGA Tour was starting the season on the Korn Ferry Tour with a six-event swing through South and Central America,” he says now. “And they were fun trips for me despite the expensive travel and basically being broke. But looking back now, I could have probably played a year or two on the now DP World Tour. I think I would have really enjoyed that. But with the age my kids are at now, I can’t really go off to Asia, and then to Europe, to the Middle East, and back again. That’s not a life I want right now because I want to be with my kids as much as possible. But travel is something I really enjoy and want to do more of.”

The wistful tone in his voice reinforces that point. He doesn’t like to use the term ‘journeyman’, but it’s perhaps telling that there were no entries on his Wikipedia page for the better part of nine years. Things were so bleak that he was ranked No.184 in the world – with five missed cuts in his last eight starts – when he went from a golfing nobody to a somebody with a victory at the Valspar Championship in March.

His winner’s speech tugged on the heartstrings of many, who were especially taken by the rawness and emotion he showed while paying tribute to his wife, family, and caddie. He is just as thoughtful today as he leans back to reflect on the trials and tribulations since his first win on the PGA Tour nine years and two children ago.

“When I won in 2015, that gave me a two-year exemption,” he explains. “Then, in the fall of 2020, I started the season with a second and fifth in the first three weeks. But apart from those two seasons and this season, I’ve never been at the midway point of a PGA Tour season knowing my card is locked up for next season. That for me is stressful. So when I won the tournament in March, that win meant as much to me as winning a Major does for a guy like Rory.”

His eyes begin to well up again. 

“I have the world’s most awesome family, he says, his voice cracking. “They are there for me whether I shoot 62 or 82. I was living my best life before the win and I’ve continued to do it after the win, too. My dream has always been to play on the PGA Tour, to provide stability and security for my family, and I’ve guaranteed that for a couple of years. That was the emotion and gratitude that came pouring out of me. I feel like there are a lot more people in my shoes on tour than there are people in Rory’s shoes. That win was for everyone.”

There is an endearing, excitable, almost childlike quality that makes Malnati easy to root for. He rides his emotions outwardly, showing the kind of vulnerability that was once considered a sign of weakness. I argue that it has become one of his greatest strengths.

He is certainly in the minority of sportsmen who don’t crave the spotlight, but it is noticeable how many times he uses Rory McIlroy as a yardstick to measure his achievements and ambitions. He doubles down when discussing how he has dealt with the added attention this summer.

“You know, sometimes I think I would love to experience what Rory gets to experience on a regular basis, being in contention in the biggest events, coming down the stretch. That’s an experience I’ve had only a few times… and in fact, never in the biggest events.

“But… I also don’t envy Rory’s life. I normally get a handful of kids coming up to me, who recognize the hat and the yellow ball and want an autograph. The nice thing is I’m able to not only sign for them, but I can engage with them, ask them their name, ask them their story, ask them if they play golf. And that’s really fun for me to be able to do.

“The hat has obviously been more recognizable this summer than it had been in years past, because people did see that I won. There was some connection with fans in that way and I think the emotion that I expressed, which was just who I am, really resonated.”

If Malnati has one flaw, it’s that neither his schedule nor his family commitments have left much time for self-retrospection. He declined the opportunity to feature in season three of Netlix’s Full Swing because of his workload, which saw him realize a childhood dream by playing in the Masters for the first time. It also kickstarted a run of 14 tournaments in a 16-week stretch.

“Maybe I overdid it a little,” he says with a wry smile. “But I’ve been a professional golfer for a little more than 15 years now and if you gave me both hands and both feet, I could count on my fingers and toes the number of times I have skipped an event I was in. I always feel like I can’t pass up an opportunity to get points.

“I guess the one thing that is a little different for me, compared with a lot guys, is that I’ve spent 10 seasons on the PGA Tour and I still love doing this. No one likes to play poorly and for the last several months I have played badly. I haven’t had good results. If there has been any consistency, it has been consistently bad. It’s not fun, but I still look forward to the next tournament. I never feel sick of it.”

Malnati is nothing if not pragmatic. It is this level-headedness that no doubt appealed to the Tour’s Policy Board when he was appointed to the role of Player Director in January 2023. He just didn’t expect to be quite so involved. 

“For a seat on the board, I was asking for votes in the summer and fall of 2021. At that time I was imagining different issues to those we have now,” he admits. “I mean, I flew to the Bahamas to meet with Yasir Al-Rumayyan. It was cool, but it was also, like, I don’t have a place in this meeting. 

“The reason I wanted to be on the board was so there is a voice for someone who is not a top player. That was my emphasis for running, but lately I’ve been on a lot of calls and in meetings, talking about massive economic stuff and hearing words I don’t even know the meaning of. There was a time this year when it was more than a part-time job. It has opened my eyes to a lot of new things in the world, but it hasn’t been fun. It hasn’t been additive to my life in a way I would have liked.”

Malnati stops himself from going into detail about what has or hasn’t been discussed behind closed doors. He occasionally goes round in circles, speaking as quickly as long drivers swing, until he finds the answers he is looking for.

One thing he doesn’t agree with is having no cuts for signature events on the PGA Tour. He also takes issue with reports that some members want LIV golfers to pay back the massive signing-on bonuses given to them before being granted a return to their formal employer.

“That doesn’t seem reasonable to me,” he says, shaking his head. “I mean, to whom should they pay it back? The Saudis or the PGA Tour? That’s just spiteful. I know almost certainly that there are players who said no to great sums of guaranteed, upfront money. But they made that choice for a reason and they can still be proud of that choice. But it’s petty to think, ‘I’m not going to play golf with you unless you give your money back’.”

There is so much more he could say, but he is wary about being too provocative. I suggest that he is a voice of reason at a time when there has been little in the way of sense. He pauses before responding.

“I think the money we play for is ridiculous. The on-course money is insane. I don’t want this to be super controversial, but when they instantly took some purses from eight, nine, or $12 million and up to $20 million, we threw a wrench into the system. We’re finding ways to make the product better, which is good, but there is certainly an un-sustainability to that.”

With so much uncertainty, Malnati is as reluctant as everyone else to predict what the future of golf might look like with or without a deal between PGA Tour Enterprises and the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

The biggest roadblock, he believes, could come from federal antitrust enforcers, who may view any prospective collaboration as a violation of anti-competitive agreements between businesses with large market shares. He stumbles over his words as he fights to retain some level of diplomacy. He tries again.

“I do hate the disruption in golf. I hate the irrationality of their (LIV’s) business model because it doesn’t make sense. It seems to me like there are some professional golfers who believe their worth or what LIV has told them they are worth. What LIV is doing is not based on any rational economics. If someone was spending money frivolously as a kid, our parents would say to them, ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees’. But on the LIV Tour, money grows on trees. I mean, they’ve got to have no return, surely?”

He considers for a moment what he would do if he was put in charge of the game for a day.

“If I could be King of Golf for a day, I would love us to go back to a place where those purses grow incrementally and organically,” he says, thoughtfully. “You know what, I would love us to have big events, on ultra-exclusive, super private, top-ranked courses that people are curious about in the world. There would be some kind of event at Cypress Point, another at Pine Valley, and other courses that the majority of golfers will read about, see pictures of, but never get to play.

“I mean, I’ll be honest, if I’m not playing in a golf tournament, I will not have golf on in our house. The one exception to that was a handful of years ago when the Presidents Cup was at Royal Melbourne. I watched every shot because I was mesmerized by the golf course, I really was. We need to think about the fans more in all of this.”

With the serious conversations now out of the way, Malnati takes a deep breath. He is a bundle of energy for our photoshoot and needs little prompting to rattle through a catalog of fist pumps and celebrations.

“Let’s give the sponsors a bit of love,” he says, showing off one of the logos on his shirt sleeve. Each flash of the camera lens is greeted with a laugh and that trademark smile. It prompts me to ask him the story behind his excited reaction to an Airbus A380 flying overhead which went viral on social media the day before.

“Somebody sent me a screenshot of the DP World’s Instagram and it said, ‘Peter Malnati is a big plane guy’. I’m like, ‘Peter Malnati’s kid is a big plane guy’,” he explains. “But I’m really passionate about trying to be a good dad. That’s important to me. I had really good parents and I still have really good parents. Trying to nurture my kids and show them what it looks like to be kind, empathetic and open minded… those things are really important.”

Family and fatherhood come up a lot in conversation with Malnati, who plays a yellow ball because his son Hatcher likes them. It could sound schmaltzy, but there is sincerity that underpins the values he lives by. It is also reflected in his hopes and ambitions, which have barely changed since his childhood.

“When I was a kid in college, I would sit under my bunk bed with goals written up on the ceiling so I could look at them,” he recalls. “I had things on there like, ‘I want to play in the Ryder Cup’. ‘I want to win a Major’. I still want to do those things, but my goal – in the most generic sense – is to provide stability and security for my family and to do some good in the world. I do think I am getting better. I don’t think I’ve peaked by any means.

“I’ve thrown around different ideas which motivate me and I would love to be a top-50 player in the Official World Golf Ranking. Normally, if you end the year there, you get a trip to the Masters. So I would love to start each year – for at least half a decade or the next decade – by circling all four Majors in my calendar and being able to pick and choose my favorite 18 to 22 events to play in. And that’s it. That would qualify as a massive success for me.”

As golf struggles with its moral compass, Peter Malnati is proof that nice guys can occasionally prosper. Finding consistency is the next step on his steep climb up the mountain.

This feature first appeared in the December issue (458) of Today’s Golfer.

About the author

Michael Catling – Features Editor

Michael Catling is an award-winning journalist who specializes in golf’s Majors and Tours, including DP World, PGA, LPGA, and LIV.

Michael joined Today’s Golfer in 2016 and has traveled the world to attend the game’s biggest events and secure exclusive interviews with the game’s biggest names, including Jack Nicklaus, Jordan Spieth, Tom Watson, Greg Norman, Gary Player, Martin Slumbers and Justin Thomas.

Get in touch with Michael via email and follow him on X.