2022 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: Top 10 power rankings

A pair of top-fives in his last two AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am appearances is hard to ignore.

After missing the cut as a youngster in 2018, the former Stanford star got the hang of it in 2020. McNealy was on the verge of missing the cut with an opening 72 at Pebble Beach and another 72 at Spyglass Hill. He was still just 1-under on the front nine Saturday at Monterey Peninsula before playing the back in 4-under to climb to the middle of the pack and make the cut. A Sunday 68 in tough conditions vaulted him from 32nd place to T-5th.

That year, McNealy was 10th in strokes gained putting in his rounds at Pebble. In all four rounds, he was fourth in scrambling (78.26%). A win was never in the cards as he wound up 10 shots back of eventual winner Nick Taylor.

McNealy dug himself less of a hole in 2021 en route to his career-best PGA Tour finish. He carded 69 in round two at Spyglass and 68, 69, and 66 at Pebble. The Sunday 66 saw him birdie 11, 12, 13, 15, and18 to nearly catch Daniel Berger, who won by three.

He made no double bogeys or worse through all four rounds. At Pebble, he was fourth in the field in strokes gained off the tee (3.192) and second in SG around the green (4.472).

McNealy had an elite collegiate career and, slowly but surely, is finding his way as a pro.

He contended at the Fortinet Championship last fall on the way to solo second.

The 26-year-old has made four cuts in a row and 12 of his last 13. His last event resulted in T-30th last week at the Farmers Insurance Open.

He ranks 21st on the PGA Tour this season in SG off the tee (.527) and is positive in the other SG stats. McNealy is also fourth in scoring average (69.735) and has yet to miss a putt inside three feet. We’ll see if that can continue on the bumpy poa annua greens.