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Peter Malnati shifts mindset, shoots career-low 61 to grab early Rocket Classic lead
Peter Malnati’s last win on the PGA Tour came at the 2024 Valspar Championship.
Over the last two years, the 39-year-old has failed to make it to the weekend almost two dozen times and admitted “the struggle has been real.”
Nonetheless, he came into Detroit Golf Club this week determined to flip the script following his latest missed cut at the 3M Open six days ago.
“I was kind of at a low point last week,” Malnati said. “I worked really hard on some stuff and it just didn’t quite work and I played awful. So, this week I was really determined to have a bit of a new mindset.”
The adjustment seems to be working.
Malnati shot a career-low 61 to claim the clubhouse lead following his bogey-free first round at the Rocket Classic.
The father of two confessed that he was horrible to himself last week after how he played and lamented, “I felt awful.”
This week he made a decision to approach the game differently and he said he could feel it working from the first tee.
“I was going to really enjoy my good shots and when I hit bad shots, I wasn’t going to let that be a reflection of me and who I am. I was going to let it be like a data set. Like what’s going on and how can I improve. I really felt that today on the course,” Malnati explained.
He came out the gate on Thursday guns blazing and birdied eight out of the first 11 holes, including a 55-foot putt at No. 11.
Nine under through 13 holes, he began having sub-60 thoughts admitting to Golf Channel’s Hailey Hunter he wanted to break Jim Furyk’s historic 58.
Armed with his new mental tools, Malnati appeared to play freer and credited his fast start to staying in the present for a change. He said prior to Thursday, he’s been carrying a lot of anxiety along with him on the course because he knows he’s not ready to give up his childhood dream of playing golf, but also knows he needs to play better to make that happen.
“I didn’t feel the same level of like anxiety of like if I hit a bad shot, it means I suck,” said Malnati, who is 171st in FedExCup points. “I just felt, ‘I’m going to enjoy the good ones. If I hit a bad one, I’m going to figure out why and how can I improve.’ That mindset was really, really helpful for me.”
He knows he needs to come out in a similar headspace on Friday if he’s going to have success this weekend: take the good shots along with the bad, learn and move forward. But not focusing on another low number.
“If I come out tomorrow and try to or expect to or want to have a chance to shoot 59 again, that’s probably not the right thing to do,” Malnati admitted on Thursday.
The second round of the Rocket Classic is underway at the Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Mich.
While he’s aiming to stay present for a good finish this weekend, he’s also focused on the future.
Malnati said he’s been talking to his coach over the last few weeks about his goal to be in the top 100 in points — and keep full 2027 status — at the end of the fall.
“It’s like the iceberg, they say, ‘I’m building and building,’” Malnati stated. “There’s a lot going on below the surface so hopefully this is just the tip of it.”
No longer an easy course?
Part of its $16 million renovation, Detroit Golf Club converted a couple of par-5 holes into par 4s and added a lot of bunkers. The work was done to make the course more challenging, as well as restore architect Donald Ross’ vision for it.
“I don’t think I took advantage of a super easy course,” said Malnati. “I played great.”
He wasn’t alone.
Rickie Fowler and Ryan Gerard are two shots back of the lead after shooting 63s. Fowler and Gerard sit one stroke ahead of Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Fishburn.
Michael Brennan, who started 2 over through four holes, birdied eight straight holes — one shy of the PGA Tour record. A late bogey on 17, left with a 5-under 65, putting him four strokes back of Malnati. Brennan is T-6 entering Friday’s second round with a pack of players that includes Keegan Bradley.
“There’s a couple really difficult holes. Before they were par 5s, you could kind of get them, but it was — he course, they’ve done a great job, it’s a really great redo,” said Bradley. “It’s one of the best redos I’ve seen.”
Some of the top players in the field, though, did not get off to a good start. Cameron Young, the No. 3 player in the world, shot a 1-under 69 and U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark was 1 over.
The Rocket Classic and next week’s Wyndham Championship are the last two opportunities for players to get into FedEx Cup postseason. Only the top 70 get to tee off at the St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind that runs Aug. 13-16.
