Peter Malnati finds himself in contention to win at the 2024 Valspar Championship, and he's looking for a second-career PGA Tour win at Innisbrook Resort near Tampa.
The PGA Tour Policy Board player director is two shots out of the lead of Keith Mitchell, and Malnati is naturally getting plenty of attention for both his position on the leaderboard and his place among player leadership.
Since Malnati's play is getting attention, fans and media alike are reminded that he uses yellow golf balls on the PGA Tour. There aren't a whole lot of players who use a golf ball that isn't white, and so Malnati was asked about the balls after the Saturday third round on the Copperhead Course.
In the grand scheme of things, Malnati has not been using the yellow golf balls very long.
"Well, I started using it in Minnesota at the 3M [Open] last summer," said Malnati, who was referring to the PGA Tour's event in the Twin Cities.
Malnati didn't switch to the yellow balls because they help him see the ball better or that he particularly likes how they look. Rather, he decided to start playing yellow balls because of his son.
"The reason I switched to it is because my, at the time, three year old, who is now four, liked them," Malnati explained. "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 won previously on the PGA Tour at the Sanderson Farms Championship in 2015. He's had good finishes on Tour, but he knows that Sunday will be a unique experience with a different kind of feeling than most final rounds he plays.
"This is my 10th season. I can't think of very many times where I've actually teed off on Sunday realistically thinking of winning the tournament," he said. "So, it feels -- unfortunately, it feels special."
