Maverick McNealy wants to be PAC chairman and pitches his newest cause

USA Today

17-02-2025

Maverick McNealy wants to be PAC chairman and pitches his newest cause
LA JOLLA, Calif. – Maverick McNealy earned widespread praise from PGA Tour players for his role in getting the Tour to adjust the FedEx Cup point allocation more fairly. Now, the member of the Player Advisory Council is hoping he can make an even bigger impact as chairman (or co-chair) of the PAC in 2025.
With Webb Simpson and Peter Malnati scheduled to complete their tenure as player directors on the Tour's policy board at the end of this year, McNealy is targeting a future board position. The two player-elected PAC co-chairs will be elevated to a player director position in 2026 alongside Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Camillo Villegas and Adam Scott.
'I think it would be a pretty consequential couple of years and if there's a time to be on the board, it's now' he said. 'I want what is best for the Tour. I love the PGA Tour, I love my job, I have enough experience now to understand how things work. I've been everything from a rookie working to keep my card to now getting a taste of how these bigger events work. I know enough now to feel like I can speak my mind a little bit and want what is best for the 240 or so members.'
McNealy made his mark last season after filling the PAC spot of Greyson Murray last summer. Asked to name what the next cause he has in mind to fix, McNealy named something unexpected – paternity leave.
As McNealy tells it, he was seated on the back of a shuttle bus near veteran pro Lanto Griffin on their way to the course at the Bermuda Championship last fall. Griffin, who had recently celebrated the birth of his first child, a daughter, couldn't help but show pictures of his new bundle of joy. But it was also clear to McNealy and those around them that he was torn about leaving his wife and daughter — he had also played the Worldwide Technology Championship the previous week — but had little choice other than to tee it up to try to save his job given he was outside the top 125 of the FedEx Cup standings.
'I could tell it was hard for him to go back to work,' McNealy said.
Rafa Campos could relate. While Griffin's daughter was born during an off week, Campos's wife was due during the Bermuda tournament. Family is his priority and it was his first child and he wanted to be there. Just as Griffin had done before him, he asked Tour officials about taking a minor medical exemption for the Bermuda Championship and RSM Classic but his request was declined.
'I was frustrated,' Campos tells Golfweek in a phone interview. 'If I decide to miss my last two tournaments, I'll be outside the top 150 (in the FedEx Cup) and I'll lose my job. I would literally start back from what status I had 15 years ago, which was basically nothing. I had to go back to Q-School and a chance of being demoted either to PGA Tour Americas or hopefully Korn Ferry Tour.'
The circumstances of Griffin and Campos make a case for a medical exemption, McNealy argued. Campos explained why his options were limited.
'If my wife was due in February, you know, at the beginning of the season, and I had to miss two or three events, that's fine, because I still have a full season to try to get back or keep my card," Campos said. "But in this situation, in my situation and in a lot of situations, we had to play well. We only had X amount of choices, of chances, and we have to play well just to keep a job. So our job, and technically our life depended on those tournaments.'
Campos set a date to induce on Tuesday of the Bermuda Championship so he could go play in the tournament. But after his baby was born and it came time to fly to Bermuda, Campos didn't feel right about leaving. He told his wife he wasn't going to go. He only ended up going to play after his wife objected. She reminded him that they moved up the date of birth and put her life in jeopardy so he could have a chance to play.
'That's basically the only reason why I decided to go play, just because it was a sacrifice for her to move up the date,' Campos explained.
Campos and Griffin were cases of all's well that ends well as Campos remarkably won the Bermuda Championship days after his baby's birth in November to earn a two-year exemption and Griffin was the medalist at Tour Q-School in December to secure his playing privileges too. Still, McNealy, who figures he may need such an exemption in the future should he and his wife have children, wants to make sure such a scenario doesn't happen again.
'The idea is if you have a kid and withdraw from that week to attend the birth, you get maybe two or three weeks after that to be home with the family, be a dad, support your wife and enjoy time with your newborn. If you don't keep your card at the end of the season, you get the first three or four starts at the beginning of the new season as a medical exemption. But instead of being able to choose your starts like a typical medical, you get the Sony Open, The American Express and Farmers Insurance Open, ' he said referring to the first three full-field events of the new season.
To McNealy, this makes perfect sense. He noted that Tour pros can pick when they get married —November and December tend to be a popular time of year — but it's harder to choose when they have children.
'It would be good for quality of life,' he said. 'I'm sure I would appreciate it. I know my wife would appreciate it. She doesn't want to feel like she's pulling me away from home and I don't want to be wishing I'm somewhere else. If you can just delay that by 2-3 weeks when it's really crucial to be there to support your wife would be a huge plus without really sacrificing playing opportunities for other players.'
Both Griffin and Campos told Golfweek that they appreciated McNealy taking up this cause and they'd vote for him to lead the PAC and eventually join the policy board. Camilo Villegas was PAC chairman last year and replaced Jordan Spieth as a member of the board. McNealy said he expects the vote to be held as early as next week.