Peter Malnati made an ace and didn't even know it.
NBC Sports
It’s been an eventful three-week stretch for Peter Malnati, to say the least.
Things kicked off for the longtime journeyman pro — and PGA Tour Policy Board member — at the Players Championship where he faced numerous questions on the future of the Tour and its negotiations with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
Well he made the cut and was an unmemorable T34 heading into Sunday, but he’ll still end up remembering this week.
Malnati came to the seventh hole, his 16th of the day, and gave his 5-iron a rip from 223 yards on Memorial Park’s longest one-shotter.
It was perfect from the start, with his now-signature yellow ball landing in the center of the green, releasing all the way to the back pin and dropping in the cup for an ace.
The hole-in-one was the third of his PGA Tour career for the 36-year-old.
“I don’t remember what I finished either of those weeks when I made a hole-in-one at Wyndham or RBC Heritage but I do remember those shots, so this will be the same,” he said.
Malnati didn’t even appear to know his ball had fallen from the tee.
The camera panned back toward him staring back at the green, possibly wondering what prompted the roar on a hole the leaders had already played through.
Someone can be heard on the broadcast asking, “That’s not a hole-in-one though, right?”
Malnati just handed his club to his caddie and smiled.
“The ball kind of disappears over a little ridge on that green so we couldn’t actually see it,” he said. “It was funny because obviously not a whole lot of people are watching the 9:30 group off 10 here on Sunday in Houston so there was a smattering of people behind the green and half of them went ‘Woooo!’ and the other half just sat completely still. We were like, ‘Oh,’ that was kind of like a really close ‘Woooo.’
“So we didn’t know it went in until we got up to the green and it was crazy.”
He’ll enjoy a nice week off before playing the Masters for the first time in his career.
Jack Hirsh is the Associate Equipment Editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State University, earning degrees in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program to serve as head coach. Jack also still *tries* to remain competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but also producing, anchoring and even presenting the weather. He can be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.