Stats
Why Peter Malnati's WM Phoenix Open performance was one for the PGA Tour record books
Sarah Stier
Tiger Woods. Phil Mickelson. Cam Smith. Those are some of the names that come to mind when you think of pro golf's short-game wizards in recent history. But none of them have ever had a week around the greens quite like the one Peter Malnati just had.
Between Thomas Detry's dominant win, Jordan Spieth's ridiculous par, and a certain football game, we forgive you for not noticing what the two-time PGA Tour winner did on Sunday at the WM Phoenix Open. If we're being completely honest, we didn't either until a tweet from Michael Kim on Monday morning.
Kim pointed out how good Malnati's short game had been at TPC Scottsale, gaining a staggering 10.955 strokes around the greens. "That is INSANE," Kim wrote. "Who do I ask to see if that’s a record and by how much??"
Not surprisingly, stats guru Justin Ray came to the rescue with the answer. And he confirmed that no one has put up a number that high in that category in two DECADES.
Impressive stuff, Peter. Now let's have a look at a few of his highlights. On Saturday, he holed out on back-to-back(!) holes to finish his round.
And on Friday, he needed this clutch chip-in just to make the cut.
Amazing stuff. Of course, it's also kind of amazing that with all that short-game magic, Malnati only finished T-49 for the week. But that's because he finished dead last among those playing the weekend in strokes gained approach. And being dead last in driving accuracy didn't help, either.
But the dude sure can scramble. And now his name is in the PGA Tour record books to prove it.