PGA Tour veteran Maverick McNealy finally pulled off his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday at the 2024 RSM Classic, and it was a family affair for the 29-year-old.
After snapping his 140-start win drought with a clutch birdie at the 18th hole on Sea Island’s Seaside Course, McNealy embraced his wife, Maya Daniels, on the green and both were overcome with emotion.
Immediately after that, Maya had a pre-planned task to accomplish: get McNealy’s parents on the phone ASAP.
“Mom and Dad, they’re watching at home, they’re all excited. They were my first phone call,” McNealy said after his round. “Maya knew her job, if it went well today, to get them on the phone as soon as possible walking off 18. I’m the luckiest guy ever.”
Maya came through in the clutch, connecting the two parents who were “in general disbelief” to their son who in the biggest moment of his seven-year career.
The call didn’t get far, though, with McNealy admitting that the main topic of conversation was his emotional mother.
“We were mostly just making fun of Mom because she was crying,” McNealy joked.
But even with Maya, mom and dad sharing the moment with him, McNealy was missing one key family member, one who may be his biggest fan of all: his grandmother.
When a reporter said he’d heard McNealy’s grandma was too nervous to watch his final putt, the pro shared that while he hadn’t talked to her yet, she has been a fixture of his success throughout his career. He then revealed a long-standing tradition: Every time McNealy has a big payday, he sends his grandma flowers. And the better his finishes get, the better the gifts for grandma become.
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“I had a deal since my days on the Korn Ferry Tour where if I make $50,000 in a given week, I had to send her flowers,” McNealy said. “She doesn’t seem to mind that that happens a lot more with PGA Tour purses than on the Korn Ferry Tour. It’s kind of her bragging rights around the retirement home. Then top-10s she gets chocolates as well.”
McNealy stuck to subject, explaining just how important his golf career is to his grandmother:
“She’s my biggest fan. You know, I know that her watching my golf in a lot of ways keeps her going, gives her something to look forward to to the point where she won’t let people talk to her when she’s watching me play. It’s pretty special.”
But the newly-minted PGA Tour winner also revealed that he knows he has to keep up with the gifts, because when he doesn’t, bad things start happening in his life.
“My grandma’s a witch,” he said, jokingly. “If I forget to send her flowers, weird things happen. Food poisoning, clubs snap, balls crack, it’s the weirdest stuff ever, so I’ve got to stay on that.”
With that revelation, McNealy seemed to realize that his RSM Classic win, by far the biggest success of his career to date, would require more gifts to grandma than usual, at least to ward of any potential negative consequences next season.
“I should probably get her something a little extra special,” he said.
