The Tiger Woods-hosted Genesis Invitational wrapped up on Sunday afternoon. Swedish phenom Ludvig Aberg birdied the 18th hole to beat Maverick McNealy by one shot. But it was truly quite the comeback.
McNealy birdied eight of his first 11 holes, including five straight. That helped him build a three-stroke lead on the back nine. Although Aberg chased him down for the win. McNealy’s playing partner was no less impressed.
Thomas took to social media with an amazing recognition.
“Just went back thru the day after thinking about that round by Mav I got to witness firsthand today. If we would’ve played a match, I would have been 1 up thru 1….. then lost the next 10 consecutive holes to holes [lose] 9&8 
holy smokes!!!!”
For anyone not familiar with match-play scoring, a 9&8 victory would mean McNealy was nine holes ahead with only eight to play. Therefore, the match is over since Thomas literally did not have enough holes left to overcome the deficit.
McNealy, who has been playing much better over the last year, is looking to take advantage. Following Thomas’ tweet on X, formerly Twitter, he replied with the perfect message.
“All I saw was a Best Ball 60 between us… maybe that could come in handy in NY sometime this fall,” McNealy replied.
Of course, McNealy, a Stanford graduate, was referencing the 2025 Ryder Cup. The biennial tournament is slated for Bethpage Black in Long Island, New York. It will be the first time Bethpage Black has hosted the prestigious Ryder Cup and only the second New York-based golf course to join Oak Hill Country Club.
Team USA will be looking for redemption. They were throttled and embarrassed by Team Europe in Rome in 2023. But the Americans always tend to play much better on home soil.
Maverick McNealy is far from a household name for PGA Tour fans or just American golfers. But he had been letting his play speak for him until this post.
McNealy has three top-10s already this year, including his solo second at the Genesis. He also picked up his first win on Tour at the RSM Classic in November of last year. Prior to that, he posted five other top-10 finishes in 2024 and 12 total top-25s.
He may need to claim a victory here over the next few months to earn a spot on Team USA. But if his game continues to shine as it has, there is a good chance that happens.
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