SHRINERS CHILDREN'S OPEN

October 7, 2022

Maverick McNealy

TPC Summerlin

Quick Quotes

Q. Another good round for you today, 68. How were you able to keep it going today?

MAVERICK McNEALY: Today was a lot more of a scrappy day. It was not very pretty from a ball striking standpoint except kind of found a little something hole 18 through 6, but aside from that, it was just a lot of short game and putting to keep me in it.

Decided to go spend a little time with Butch Harmon on the driving range after this to figure it out.

Q. Anything in particular you're trying to work out from the round today?

MAVERICK McNEALY: I'm not sure, but I'm sure whatever Butch gives me will be pretty simple and easy to implement. We'll see what he has.

I guess I had a left miss today, which is kind of uncharacteristic. I usually like to have just a little right miss if I do. So we'll figure out what that is.

Q. Do you feel a lot of fan support when you're out here playing in Vegas?

MAVERICK McNEALY: This has been such a fun week. I had so many people out here watching. It's a really special week for me to get to show them what I spend 365 days a year working on and grinding and why I spend so much time on the road and get to show them what I've put into my craft.

It's pretty special to have them out there watching and following and supporting me and actually get to watch me in person.

Q. I want to follow up on what you said yesterday about getting your private pilot's license. Where are you in the process right now?

MAVERICK McNEALY: I'm 25 flight hours in. I'm aiming for about 80 before I take my check ride. I love it because it's something I can do. It focuses and challenges me mentally. It's a lot of multitasking and information, and it's also just a lot of fun.

I'm really fortunate to have the ability to work on that, a schedule where I practice every morning for the first half of the day. Second half of the day, I'm either working out or flying, kind of alternating days that way.

It's not really something that I'm going to fly myself to every tournament, especially being a West Coast guy. But since I started studying and focusing and practicing, my appetite has been greater. I've been more focused and energized, and just something really fun that I'm passionate about.

Q. Going back to that focus, it seems like it's something that could transfer to the golf course, being able to lock in on information and being in the right mindset. Do you feel like it helps you out here?

MAVERICK McNEALY: It does. It's challenging me in a way that I haven't been challenged in anything other than golf really. Just processing a lot of information, multitasking, communicating, doing calculations, problem solving, and then also executing stuff, fine motor skills, feeling the plane, and trying to land something that's flying on a runway, which is kind of fun.

I just loved it. It's something I looked forward to doing, something I can't stop talking about at dinners, and I love it.