Maverick McNealy might just be the richest golfer you’ve never heard of.
The 28-year-old American is yet to win on the PGA Tour circuit with his best result in a major coming in 2022 when he finished T75 at the PGA Championship.
The world No.99 may not even play at the Masters next month due to his ranking, but thanks to father businessman Scott McNealy he’s already richer than nearly every golfer in the world not named Tiger Woods – including the likes of Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus.
That’s because the elder McNealy co-founded technology giant Sun Microsystems back in 1982.
It was later acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2010 for a whopping $7.4billion, which meant the McNealy family hit the ultimate jackpot.
Scott McNealy has a net worth of $1billion and Maverick is the heir to that jaw-dropping ten-figure fortune.
Although he grew up in an 28,000 square-foot, $86million Palo Alto mansion, McNealy insists things weren’t handed to him on a plate.
He told Golf Digest “My dad often tells me the most well-funded start-ups always fail, and that a short cash runway lights a fire under your rear that’s hard to emulate.
“I don’t judge my success in golf by how much money I’ve made; I judge it by my effort and commitment.
“My brothers and I never got an allowance, and we were told that once we graduated from college, we’d have one summer to find a job and then we’d be on our own.
“My dad would’ve made me pay rent to live at home after school — I’m not kidding!”
With that said, it was still his mum who pushed him to be better.
“You’d think my dad is the intimidating one, but my mom was strict,” he added.
“‘Good grades, good attitude, good effort’ is her mantra. She always said I had to do my homework before I got to play sports. Bad grades meant taking away my golf and hockey gear.”
McNealy was born in California on 7 November 1995 and grew up with his three golfing brothers who are all named after famous American cars – (Ford) Maverick, (Dodge) Dakota, (Dodge) Colt, (Jeep) Scout.
Despite an early passion for ice hockey, Maverick’s attention switched solely to golf after graduating high school.
The 6ft 1in star qualified for the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst at the age of 18, and the following year established himself as one of the best college golfers in the US.
The budding pro shot a 61 in the final round of the Pac-12 Conference Championship tournament, tying the 18-hole Stanford record held by Tiger Woods and Cameron Wilson.
In late 2016 and 2017, he was the number one ranked golfer in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and won the Ben Hogan Award for best US collegiate golfer.
In 2018 he graduated from Stanford with a degree in Management Science and Engineering, but by then he was already proving himself as a golfer and went professional after the 2017 Walker Cup.
McNealy would ultimately earn his PGA Tour card for the 2019–20 season via his finish on the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour.
Since then he has secured runners-up finishes at the 2021 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the 2021 Fortinet Championship.
His wait for a maiden title continues, but he has racked up over $7 million in career earnings.
2023 was a mixed bag for the California native as he reached a career high ranking of 57th to start the year off.
But he subsequently missed a big chunk of last season after a shoulder injury ruled him out of competitive play for over five months.
McNealy stayed positive though and used his unfortunate situation to fulfil one of his lifelong ambitions – to become a fully licensed pilot.
He took to Instagram in May 2023 to announce he had secured the qualification to get his flying licence around where he currently resides in Las Vegas.
He wrote: “I’m a pilot!!
“Still processing it all, but without a doubt one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my life.
“Luke and Jake, thank you for all you’ve taught me on the ground and in the air – I know it’ll be a lifetime of learning.”
Speaking to Golf Digest about his newfound passion, he said: “That’s just been a lot of fun.
“I’m looking at it as something where I don’t want to add stress to my life. It’s something that I enjoy and love doing, so I would never put undue pressure on making a trip for weather reasons, flying into a new, uncomfortable, complicated air space, whatever it is.
“It’s a fun release away from golf.”
McNealy says he’s now put flying on the back-burner as he’s returned to the golf course.
He finished T9 at The Players Championship earlier this month and is looking to finding some consistency for the rest of 2024.
He’ll no doubt be cheered on by wife Maya, whom he tied the knot with in December 2023.
Maverick previously dated American golf star Danielle Kang but the pair went their separate ways after two years of dating.
News Summary:
- One of PGA Tour’s richest golfers with bigger net worth than Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Jack Nicklaus may not even play The Masters
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