PGA Tour winner having ‘hard time’ defending changes

Maverick McNealy will play in PGA Tour events that he has a ‘hard time defending’ next season.

The 29-year-old claimed his first Tour win in 142 starts on Sunday at the RSM Classic, earning him a handful of lucrative bonuses.

McNealy will make a Masters debut in 2025, as well as teeing it up in the Players Championship for a fifth time.

The win also granted him a spot in The Sentry, the first Signature Event of the new season.

Meanwhile, topping the Aon Next 10 standings puts McNealy in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational.

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For those three starts, he’ll tee it up against just 71 players – and that’s not sitting right.

“I have a hard time defending Signature Event fields of 72 players if we’re going to limit the number of players that have a card,” he said.

“I think 120 is a beautiful number, I think it’s very competitive.

“I think a cut is an integral part of our sport and I think it would be really cool to play Signature Events at 120 players over the 72.”

In total, eight Signature Events will take place in 2025, once again offering significantly boosted prize funds across the US.

And McNealy sees that as a complete waste of possibilities.

“With eight tournaments, that’s 400 more playing opportunities,” he explained. “It just seems like a layup to me.

“There’s a bunch of arguments why 72 is the number. None of them have convinced me yet, but that’s my personal opinion.”

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McNealy also sealed a two-year winners exemption on the circuit, securing his full time status through 2026.

It means cuts to membership won’t affect him immediately.

“Well, a two-year exemption, that’s kind of cool,” he said after winning in Georgia.

“I was joking with Scout that now that I’ve got top 60 locked up, it felt like I was playing with house money the last two weeks.

“I said, man, this must be what it feels like to tee up on a winner’s exemption, it’s kind of nice.

“It will be fun to go out there feeling a little bit more free and playing to win.

“That was a big realisation of mine starting my sophomore year of college, that it’s more fun to play to win than playing to not screw up.

“I think I’ll have a lot more freedom to go out there and try and win a few more of these.”

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.