PGA Tour Pro Flies Himself To Torrey Pines For Genesis Invitational

Maverick McNealy earned his pilot's license in 2023, and he's put that to good use to get to the PGA Tour signature event

Maverick McNealy takes a shot at the WM Phoenix Open
Maverick McNealy flew himself to the Genesis Invitational
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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Extensive traveling is an essential part of being a PGA Tour pro, with players clocking up thousands of miles a year in pursuit of their craft.

Some pros, including Michael Kim, settle for commercial flights as they crisscross North America and beyond throughout the season, whereas some of the most successful may even have a private jet, but it’s not often you find a player flying himself to a tournament.

However, that’s exactly what Maverick McNealy opted to do for the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines, with video footage published on X by Golf Digest showing the 29-year-old boarding his aircraft, presumably from close to his Las Vegas home, before heading to San Diego for the signature event.

McNealy earned his private pilot’s license in September 2023 when he was in the midst of a spell out of the game with injury. Per PGATour.com, at the time, he stated his ambition to fly to PGA Tour events in the southwest and he has made good on that promise this week.

In the article, he also explained how there elements of flying an aircraft that can be applied to golf. He said: “The decision-making and execution under pressure; there are ways you feel the airplane, you feel the power the engine’s producing, you’re judging airspeed and pitch angle and glide path and power, all the stuff coming into land, you’re judging the wind, you’re taking the information from a lot of different factors. It’s a lot more reactionary than golf, but the same kind of factors you’re looking at.”

Whether or not McNealy’s interest in flying has helped him better understand golf, it’s not just his aircraft that has been taking off in recent months. His golf career is also on the up.

Maverick McNealy with the RSM Classic trophy

McNealy won the 2024 RSM Classic

(Image credit: Getty Images)

He claimed his maiden PGA Tour title at last November’s RSM Classic, and two more top-10 finishes have come this year alone – a T8 at The Sentry and T9 at last week’s WM Phoenix Open. That kind of form helped take him to a career-high world ranking of 26th ahead of the Genesis Invitational.

Mike Hall
Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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