Peter Malnati and the Absolute Joy of Putting

I stood for twenty minutes and watched Peter Malnati chase a little yellow ball around the green. One ball, the only yellow ball I’d seen used all day, back and forth, to the right of the hole, left of the hole, mainly into the hole. On the near empty practice green at PGA National, Tuesday afternoon before the Cognizant Classic, Peter Malnati watched each and every putt with gracious intent. Staring and leaning and trying as hard as he could to get the ball to move with him to no avail, walking to each miss a tad faster than he walked to the makes. But, he made a lot. Never a three putt, not one time, the little yellow ball couldn’t stay out of the ball for more than two strokes no matter how hard it tried. Peter Malnati, with his bucket hat and Palmer finish and that bright, animated yellow ball, made me realize how easy and effortless it could and should be to love putting. 

There is a big misconception about putting among amateurs; it’s scary. Putting is the opposite of scary, it’s rewarding, something to relish. Whether it was a treacherous island par 3, or a solid wedge shot next to the fringe, or even your pitch after a dropped shot, whatever terrible hazards and winds placed in front of you on the tee shouldn’t compare to the simple task of rolling your ball across the green. Whether 40 feet or 4, a putt should never be something daunting, but something approached with joy and relief. Getting on the green in any regard is an accomplishment in itself. If this sounds completely insane to you, please make sure to keep reading.

Every single motion that Peter Malnati made, from his target selection, to alignment, to the stroke, made putting look so fun. Your first reaction might be, “Well gee, if I could two putt from anywhere I’d be happy as well.” What if it didn’t work that way, but actually the other way around? What if the joy of putting itself, being eager to hit the putt instead of nervous, being confident instead of timid, was the driving force behind being a good putter? This is completely separate from any green reading technique; there are many ways to find the correct break and slope of a green. It’s not what you do with that information that is the important part. It’s how you process it in your brain and how you choose to approach and accept it. 

Any putt should be seen as an opportunity, no matter how far away, and should be approached with care, no matter how far away. Next time you go to take a putt, try flipping the script on everything.

1. Take a deep breath and try as hard as you can (sometimes it’s easy, other times hard) to feel utter gratitude that you have the ability to stand on a green and putt a golf ball.

2. Kneel down. Stare at the grass like a detective at a blood splatter. Squint at it like Clint Eastwood, then widen your eyes like Morgan Freeman looking into the box. See the whole green, then only see one blade. 

3. While kneeling, take your hand and rub it gently across the putting surface. Is it smooth and sleek, or rough and bumpy? Is the grass long or short? Wet or dry. Take due diligence with these aspects. These are the keys to unlocking the speed and level of break on the putt. 

4. You are not there to drive the ball into the hole, or push the ball through the line. You interact with the green, use its clues to solve the puzzle, and once you understand the speed and break, there is nothing more to do than get the ball rolling, literally. Start it on its line, and the green will finish it for you. 

5. Receive any outcome with grace and acceptance

Remember, there is a difference between making putts and holing them. You may do all that and still miss completely. But, building up that process and mentality is as important as practicing three footers. The day will come where the same process is applied, but the putts start going in instead of missing by a few inches. It just happened to me. Months and months of applying the same process over and over, getting better but never the level I knew was possible, until it did. A day where basically everything dropped, where I was able to deduce almost all the breaks, spot out all the lines, clocked all the speeds. I was happy of course, but by no means off the walls, because that happiness was always there from the beginning. When I made the switch a year and a half ago to try as hard as I could to always a). Enjoy putting every time no matter what and b). Take care to discover the truth behind every putt, my enjoyment of putting grew high from the start. Suddenly, it became fun to stare at the grass and uncover the true directions of the green, even if I was wrong, and to visualize the ball rolling down the slope and in, a fun thought every time even if I failed to recreate it. It was fun when I was leaving them 10 feet short, fun when they were 6 feet short, and fun when they were inches, and incredibly fun they were dropping from every distance. I’m at a point where I am able to put the system into words and lay it out, but to really embrace it goes beyond just a legible group of steps, or even the idea of delusional self belief. It was Peter Malnati chasing around that little yellow ball that made me realize that the true nature of this mindset was finding absolute joy within putting.

Only one ball on the ground, while others had three or five. Find a spot, find the line, roll the ball in. No aimpoint, greenbooks, just looking at it, feeling it out, understanding though aptitude, intuition, and practice the slope, the break, and the speed. Peter Malnati made putting look like the best part of golf. He soared around the hole, following the ball wherever it went, which was usually where he meant for it to go. Effortless, efficient but not rushed, smooth but not slow moving, which is something all golfers are capable of being. It is not a physical barrier that separates, but a mental one. It is not a painful journey to overcome it, but one of learning and gratitude and acceptance. It can be as simple as throwing a single ball down the green and chasing it around, not counting strokes, not even aiming at a hole. Just trying your best to be as in tune as possible with your putter, the ball, the green, and your body and mind. It sounds daunting, but like I’ve stressed, it is actually more fun than anything. I don’t like puzzles, or numbers, I like making putts, and making putts goes way beyond just physical motion and mental strategy. Peter Malnati does too, but I would argue he enjoys the process of it more than anything. When done correctly, the action of putting itself becomes the greatest joy. After that, it becomes just a regular old occurrence to look up and see the ball rolling comfortably towards the hole. It may not roll in, but if you ensure your mindset and approach is consistent and positive, I’d argue it will a lot more than it won’t. Try it for yourself, and I promise you will see results faster than you think. Or don’t. I’ll keep sinking putts more than you and take your money while doing it.