Editor’s Note: Peter Malnati qualified for his first Masters by winning the Valspar Championship last month. The 36-year-old veteran hadn’t won in nearly nine years on the PGA Tour. He’s sharing a first-person account of his experience daily only at Golfweek.com.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Well, my very first Masters is over, and that stinks.
No matter how ceremonial something feels or how grateful you are for the experience, as a competitor when you get inside the ropes, you really want to do well and the feeling of missing a cut at any level at any tournament stinks.
In retrospect, I had this mindset that the greens were going to continue to get trickier as the week went on. But I think due to the forecast of high winds, the Masters tournament committee smartly backed off on the green speed a little bit. I was prepared in the wind for these greens to be lightning fast and they kept them at a pretty reasonable level. Kudos to them for doing such a great job. At the same time, it was a huge mistake on my part failing to adjust better. I was very timid on the greens on Thursday and it cost me. I never got into a groove.
There’s disappointment, for sure, after shooting 82 in the first round. I felt like not a whole lot went right and I just didn’t do the things that I usually do well. Thankfully, that all changed on Friday and I played great. I made two early birdies at Nos. 2 and 3. From the fourth hole on I didn’t make another birdie but I had a lot of good shots and I battled to the end, holing a slippery six-foot par putt at the last for a nifty sandy. I signed for an even-par 72 on a day when the scoring average was 75.079, the highest in a single round at the Masters since the third round in 2016.
Peter Malnati and caddie Chad Antus look on from the fourth tee box during the first round of the Masters Tournament. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Time will tell but I think I may look back at Friday’s round as a big day for me for a couple of reasons. I feel like I’m capable of playing Augusta National even in tough conditions. It makes me even more motivated to earn my way back into the Masters tournament because I feel like now I have some experience on the course and I’ll be ready for it next time.
My last few weeks and returning to the winner’s circle on Tour has been a whirlwind. Everything that comes with victory – a two-year exemption and the right to play in the Signature events for the rest of the season – is a game-changer. When you have some success, it just makes you hungry for more and shooting par in the second round was great validation for me that I am playing really well and I can compete on the toughest stages with the best competition. That’s really exciting for me.
I get to go play Hilton Head next week on a course that I love. It’ll be a really strong field. You never know what you’re going to get in terms of weather there; you can get beautiful weather, you can get strong winds, but whatever we face, I’ll be ready for it and I know my game is in great shape. I feel encouraged by the fact that I was able to bounce back from a disappointing Thursday with a strong Friday and I’m going to carry that momentum into the rest of the season.
I’m going to use Friday’s round to spark a lot of good tournaments moving forward and ensure I’m back here in Augusta in April 2025. That is the message I’m going leave with: my Friday round at Augusta National in tough conditions is going to buoy me onto some great tournaments here the rest of this year and help me earn my spot back in the Masters tournament in 2025.