Smylie Kaufman shares the one thing which surprised him about Maverick McNealy following his win at The RSM Classic

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Maverick McNealy brought the curtain down on his 2024 season in style on Sunday as the 29-year-old won The RSM Classic to clinch his first PGA Tour win on his 134th start.

While much of the focus was on the players who would and would not keep their PGA Tour cards at The RSM Classic, those at the top of the leaderboard played their part in delivering a fantastic finale, with the likes of Luke Clanton, Nico Echavarria and Daniel Berger all finding themselves at 15 under par.

Maverick McNealy was also on that number as he teed off on his final hole alongside Berger. However, a stunning approach shot set McNealy up for the birdie which allowed him to get across the line and secure that maiden PGA Tour win.

Smylie Kaufman shares what has surprised him about Maverick McNealy

It has not been an easy journey for McNealy, who missed most of the 2023 PGA Tour season due to injury. And of course, he had made well over 100 starts without getting his name in the winners circle.

But he now has that first win. And speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman outlined what impresses him in particular about McNealy’s game.

“I think the one thing that surprised me, and I always knew this, was when I looked at his stats, how good he is around the greens. And I’d always take it for him to be just real solid at everything, never super powerful. I guess like I continually always refer to what guys are really good at. He’s really good around the greens,” he said.

“And then I think you throw in this, I think you throw in just a freakin high IQ that’s not only a high IQ off the course, but on the course. I think he’s a very intelligent player. He’s not going to make too many mistakes.

“I thought yesterday, he said after the round that he was a little all over the place, a little nervous, he didn’t look that way because I felt like he was making really proper decisions and I felt like, besides not making some putts on the back nine, like the three putt on 15 felt like it was going to be really costly for him and Daniel, they’re both lucky that both of them made bogey on 18, talking about Luke Clanton and Nico Echavarria.”

McNealy’s stats only makes crucial approach shot into 18 all the more remarkable

As Kaufman suggests, the statistics show that the biggest strength in McNealy’s game is his short game, as he sits ninth on tour for strokes gained around the green.

He is actually performing well in almost every single strokes gained category. He is inside the top 30 off the tee, tee to green and putting. Unfortunately, his approach game looks to be a major weakness for the former Stanford man.

So it was perhaps fitting that it was actually a sumptuous iron shot which allowed him to make the birdie to win the tournament on Sunday – confirming that he is one to keep a very close eye on during the 2025 season.