Peter Malnati has a heartwarming reason for using a yellow golf ball

Peter Malnati is a member of the Player Advisory Council and a two-time PGA Tour winner with nearly $10 million in career earnings, but he might be better known as the professional golfer who uses a yellow ball in competition. 

The 36-year-old has played with a yellow golf ball on the PGA Tour for nearly a year, and it matches up perfectly with his quirky personality and fun-loving attitude on the golf course. Malnati doesn't use a yellow ball because he likes standing out. The real reason is much more touching.

"Well, I started using it in Minnesota at the 3M (Open) last summer," Malnati told reporters after the third round of the Valspar Championship, per Golfweek. "And the reason I switched to it is because my — at the time — three-year-old (Hatcher), who is now four, liked them. And so, he’s kind of over it now, but it still makes me think of him, and that’s worth a smile or two, which is worth a lot out there for me."

The next morning, Malnati hit his fluorescent golf ball 67 times around the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Golf Resort to erase a two-stroke deficit and win the Valspar Championship. He shot a 4-under 31 on the back 9 and birdied the 17th hole to inch ahead of Cameron Young and win by two. 

And the first person to congratulate him on the 18th green? None other than his son, Hatcher, who inspired him to put the yellow golf ball in play last year.