Maverick McNealy’s career trajectory since turning professional in 2017 has been one to envy, and his initial success, which included making the cut in 12 of 18 starts on the Web.com Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour) the following year, was overseen with the help of bagman Travis McAlister.
Even after that solid start to life as a pro, it wasn’t without its difficulties, with McNealy developing the full-swing yips so severely that it prompted him to make a phone call to McAlister to inform him he would not be playing in the Web.com Tour Finals – a message not taken well by his caddie.
Per NBCSports.com, McNealy was told in no uncertain terms that missing the Finals wasn’t an option. He described the conversation as “one of the most pivotal phone calls of my life,” before adding: “He told me, ‘Get your butt on a plane and we’ll figure it out.’”
He made the cut and earned his PGA Tour card the following season, which he has yet to relinquish, so it's little wonder McNealy stayed with McAlister for much of his professional career.
However, it wasn’t until McNealy parted ways with McAlister that a big omission from his resume finally came his way – a PGA Tour win.
That came after he turned to brother Scout in the summer of 2024. The plan was for Scout to caddie for the remainder of the season, starting at the Wyndham Championship. McNealy finally had his maiden PGA Tour win a little over three months after they teamed up. That came at the RSM Classic, while his world ranking jumped from 73rd in August to 30th at the end of the year.
During the 2024 World Wide Technology Championship, McNealy credited Scout with his solid form, saying: “I think my good play lately has been a lot due to the help he's given me over the last couple weeks,” before explaining what he brought to the partnership: “He's a better green reader than I am, so helps a lot.”
Ultimately, the decision was made for the pair to continue working together through 2025. At the first event of the year, The Sentry, Maverick talked about that plan and even revealed Scout, who played for Baylor University's men's team, is a better golfer than either him or his two other brothers.
He said: “He's probably the best player out of the four of us and had some shoulder injuries and played high-level collegiate golf, and so that's probably why I went with him.”
Given what Maverick has achieved since, that must make Scout some player, because his march up the world rankings continued in the opening weeks of the season after top-10 finishes at The Sentry and WM Phoenix Open before he agonizingly missed out on the Genesis Invitational title by one shot to Ludvig Aberg.
Despite that disappointment, it took McNealy to a career-high world ranking of 14th as his partnership with Scout continued to blossom.
