Plenty of golfers have their idiosyncrasies, quirks, or unique characteristics, but very few – if any – on the PGA Tour have one quite like Peter Malnati.
Known to be a colorful person who is nearly always wearing a welcoming smile and a wide brimmed bucket hat, similar to Netflix star Joel Dahmen, the 36-year-old dad of two has never been afraid to go about life his own way.
And while well over 95% of Malnati’s rivals are likely to use a white golf ball, the PGA Tour player-director has started to mix things up a little of late.
The American, who claimed his maiden PGA Tour title at the 2015 Sanderson Farms Championship, has begun opting to use a yellow version of the extremely popular Titleist Pro V1x in competition.
The reason for this does not centre around visibility or feel (at least not primarily) but rather sentimentality towards one of his two sons, Hatcher.
Asked how the equipment change came about and why he has persisted after round three of the Valspar Championship, Malnati said: “Well, I started using it in Minnesota at the 3M (Open) last summer.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“The reason I switched to it is because my, at the time, three year old (Hatcher), who is now four, liked them. And so, he’s kind of over it now, but it still makes me think of him, and that’s worth a smile or two, which is worth a lot out there for me.”
Malnati has not had much reason to smile of late, at least on the course, with four missed cuts and a season-best result of T9 at the Cognizant Classic from his seven starts in 2024 before ‘the most colorful event’ on the PGA Tour calendar.
The 36-year-old still mixes his golf ball colors up, with some of his excellent play in a three-under third round featuring the classic white Titleist – known as one of the best golf balls available to both amateurs and professionals.
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