Will Zalatoris

Last updated

Will Zalatoris
Will Zalatoris 2022 01.png
Zalatoris in 2022
Personal information
Full nameWilliam Patrick Zalatoris
Born (1996-08-16) August 16, 1996 (age 27)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight175 lb (79 kg; 12.5 st)
Sporting nationalityFlag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Residence Plano, Texas, U.S.
Spouse
Caitlin Sellers
(m. 2022)
Career
College Wake Forest University
Turned professional2018
Current tour(s) PGA Tour
Former tour(s) European Tour
Korn Ferry Tour
Professional wins2
Highest ranking 7 (September 25, 2022) [1]
(as of May 19, 2024)
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour1
Korn Ferry Tour1
Best results in major championships
Masters Tournament 2nd: 2021
PGA Championship 2nd: 2022
U.S. Open T2: 2022
The Open Championship T28: 2022
Achievements and awards
PGA Tour
Rookie of the Year
2020–21

William Patrick Zalatoris (born August 16, 1996) is an American professional golfer. He has competed primarily on the PGA Tour, where he has won once, at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship. He also has three runner-up finishes in major championships.

Contents

College career

Zalatoris was born in San Francisco, California.

Representing Trinity Christian Academy in Addison, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, Zalatoris won the U.S. Junior Amateur title in 2014. [2] He attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina, and was named ACC Player of the Year in 2017. [3] In his junior year, Zalatoris was named All-ACC, First-Team GCAA All-American, First-Team Golf week All-American, Nicklaus Award finalist, Hogan Award semifinalist, played in all 12 events and had a scoring average of 70.14, third-best season average in school history. [4] He was also a member of the U.S. Walker Cup team in 2017, teammates with future PGA Tour winners Collin Morikawa and Cameron Champ. [5] He left school after his junior year to turn professional. [6]

Professional career

Zalatoris turned professional in 2018 but failed to make it past First Stage of the Korn Ferry Tour Q School. [7] With no status in 2019, Zalatoris relied on Monday qualifying and sponsor exemptions to play in Korn Ferry Tour events. He secured membership for the remainder of the season on July 7 after a tie for third at the LECOM Health Challenge, and finished the regular season 60th in points, earning full status for the 2020 season. [8]

Zalatoris' first professional victory came in July 2020, when he narrowly won the TPC Colorado Championship by one stroke. [9] The win moved him to the leader on the Korn Ferry Tour points list and qualified him for the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. At the U.S. Open, he aced the par-3 seventh hole during the first round, very nearly replicating it six holes later, [10] and tied for sixth place, at five-over par, alongside world number one Dustin Johnson; it was his first top-10 finish in a major championship. [11] He followed it up with a T8 at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship, and secured Special Temporary Member status after the Bermuda Championship in early November.

In April 2021, Zalatoris finished second in the Masters Tournament with a score of 9-under-par, one stroke behind champion Hideki Matsuyama. Zalatoris was voted PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2020–21 season. [12]

In October 2021, Zalatoris shot his career low round (61) on the PGA Tour at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi. [13]

In January 2022, Zalatoris tied for the lead of the Farmers Insurance Open after 72 holes. He lost a sudden-death playoff to Luke List when List hit his approach shot to a foot away from the first playoff hole and made birdie. [14]

In May 2022, Zalatoris finished second in a major championship for the second time. He lost to Justin Thomas in a playoff in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma. [15]

In June 2022, Zalatoris had another second place in a major championship. He finished tied with Scottie Scheffler at the U.S. Open behind Matt Fitzpatrick at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. [16]

On August 14, 2022, Zalatoris won his first PGA Tour event, winning the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee on the third playoff hole against Sepp Straka. The event was the first of three events in the 2022 FedEx Cup Playoffs, With his win, Zalatoris moved to first in the FedEx Cup standings ahead of Scottie Scheffler. [17]

Zalatoris underwent back surgery in April 2023 and announced that he would miss the remainder of the 2022–23 season. [18]

Amateur wins

Source: [19]

Professional wins (2)

PGA Tour wins (1)

Legend
FedEx Cup playoff events (1)
Other PGA Tour (0)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1Aug 14, 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship −15 (71-63-65-66=265)Playoff Flag of Austria.svg Sepp Straka

PGA Tour playoff record (1–2)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2022 Farmers Insurance Open Flag of the United States.svg Luke List Lost to birdie on first extra hole
22022 PGA Championship Flag of the United States.svg Justin Thomas Lost three-hole aggregate playoff;
Thomas: −2 (4-3-4=11),
Zalatoris: x (4-4-x=x)
32022 FedEx St. Jude Championship Flag of Austria.svg Sepp Straka Won with bogey on third extra hole

Korn Ferry Tour wins (1)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory
Runner-up
1Jul 4, 2020 TPC Colorado Championship −15 (67-67-70-69=273)1 stroke Flag of the United States.svg Chase Johnson

Playoff record

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
1 2022 PGA Championship Flag of the United States.svg Justin Thomas Lost three-hole aggregate playoff;
Thomas: −2 (4-3-4=11),
Zalatoris: x (4-4-x=x)

Results in major championships

Results not in chronological order before 2019 and in 2020.

Tournament2018201920202021202220232024
Masters Tournament 2T6T9
PGA Championship T82T43
U.S. Open CUTT6CUTT2
The Open Championship NTWDT28
  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
WD = withdrew
NT = No tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament 01013333
PGA Championship 01012233
U.S. Open 01012242
The Open Championship 00000021
Totals030377129

Results in The Players Championship

Tournament2021202220232024
The Players Championship T17T2673CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

Tournament202120222023
Championship T22
Match Play T28QFT59
Invitational T8
Champions NT1NT1

1Canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic

  Top 10

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
NT = No tournament
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

See also

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References

  1. "Week 39 2022 Ending 25 Sep 2022" (pdf). OWGR . Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Wildhack, Sean (April 3, 2020). "Zalatoris, Riley progress from U.S. Junior finalists to roommates". PGA Tour. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  3. "Will Zalatoris Named ACC Player of the Year". godeacs.com. May 11, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  4. "Will Zalatoris - Men's Golf". Wake Forest University Athletics. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  5. "Meet the USA Walker Cup team". USGA. August 21, 2017. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  6. Dell, John (July 1, 2020). "Will Zalatoris, a former Wake Forest star, hitting his stride on the Korn Ferry Tour". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  7. "First Stage – The Woodlands, TX". BlueGolf. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  8. "Will Zalatoris – Profile". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  9. Romine, Brentley (July 4, 2020). "Will Zalatoris wrote his caddie a check for the winner's share, then went and won". Golf Channel. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  10. Kelly, Todd (September 17, 2020). "U.S. Open: Will Zalatoris makes hole-in-one, almost does it again later in round". USA Today. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  11. Gray, Will (September 21, 2020). "Will Zalatoris surpasses KFT season earnings with U.S. Open T-6". Golf Channel. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  12. "Golfer Will Zalatoris is PGA Tour rookie of the year". ESPN. Associated Press. September 14, 2021.
  13. "Will Zalatoris shoots 61 to share lead at Sanderson Farms". ABC News. Associated Press. October 1, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  14. Kelly, Todd (January 29, 2022). "Luke List beats Will Zalatoris in a playoff at Farmers Insurance Open for first PGA Tour win". Golfweek. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
  15. Ferguson, Doug (May 22, 2022). "Thomas wins 2nd PGA title in playoff after 7-shot rally". AP News. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  16. Skiver, Kevin (June 20, 2022). "Will Zalatoris comes up short at U.S. Open, his third runner-up finish at a major: 'I'm going to keep knocking on the door'". The Sporting News. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  17. Ferguson, Doug (August 15, 2022). "Will Zalatoris gets 1st PGA Tour win in playoff at Memphis". AP News. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  18. "Will Zalatoris has back surgery, to miss rest of golf season". ESPN. April 10, 2023. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  19. "Will Zalatoris". World Amateur Golf Ranking. Retrieved September 20, 2020.