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Is Will Zalatoris underpaid? It depends on who you ask.

The folks at LIV Golf would surely have you believe he is. The Saudi-backed upstart league has joined the ranks of professional golf with a rallying cry based primarily upon pay equity for the game’s best players. The top players, the argument goes, have been underpaid and undervalued for years, propping up a wasteful PGA Tour and an overpaid class of fringe professionals.

The PGA Tour, naturally, disagrees with LIV’s assessment. Zalatoris, the Tour argues, is fairly compensated for his performance, his salary driven by market factors untethered to the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. Should he wish to make more on the PGA Tour, Zalatoris needs only to perform better.

But what does Will Zalatoris think? Is he underpaid? The answer, it seems, is even simpler than the one laid out by either league. It runs only two letters in length.

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“I’ve never done this for money. Ever,” Zalatoris said in an interview with Graham Bensinger released earlier this week. “If the U.S. Open had a $100,000 purse, I’d still show up to the U.S. Open. I don’t know what it was this year, $17 million or something outrageous. I’m in this to go win a major, that’s my career goal. There’s no amount of money I would give to trade that for a trophy. There’s no amount of money that could make me give up on my dreams. Especially with the amount of silver medals I’ve got hanging around my house now, I’ll happily trade them all in for one win.”

No, Zalatoris says, he does not think he’s underpaid. In fact, if he can speak for the remainder of professional golf, he would go out on a limb to say they aren’t underpaid either.

“The money that these guys are given right now, it’s just more money. It’s not life-changing money, it’s just more,” he said. “There’s a difference in that level. I couldn’t be happier with what’s going to happen with the Tour this year. We’ve looked at the projections and in 2025, you could make $3 million and still lose your card. How can you argue we’re still underpaid?”

The problem with the money obsession, in Zalatoris’ view, is that more of it will not materially change his life. At least, not at the sums LIV is offering.

“I get that maybe proportionally, sure, we can always fight for bigger purses,” he said. “That’s why people ask me, ‘Shouldn’t you be a prime candidate to go to LIV because of the situation you had your first year on the PGA Tour, when you couldn’t be a part of the FedEx Cup Playoffs?’ I said, ‘guys, I haven’t won yet, and I’ve made over $10 million on Tour.’ If I sat there and said I feel like I’m under-compensated as a PGA Tour pro, what does that say about me?”

Yes, $25 million would change his life for the better, but it would be worth the risk of losing out on the major championships? Would it be worth jeopardizing his own legacy?

No, it would not be worth those things to Will Zalatoris. Though he surely understands why it may be worth it to a different class of professionals.

“If you look at the guys that have gone, and I’ve got no problem with the guys going, everyone can make their own decisions, no disrespect to them at all,” he said. “A lot of them are older or they’ve been injured or they’ve been on the road for 20-plus years and they don’t want to do it anymore. They just want to get a nice nest egg and call it quits.”

That, he says, is the primary difference between the two leagues. A little bit of money, and a big dose of reality.

Maybe he does deserve a raise.

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The post FedEx Cup leader Will Zalatoris withdraws from BMW Championship with injury appeared first on Golf.

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Will Zalatoris‘ week is done at the BMW Championship after bowing out due to injury early in Saturday’s third round. And his WD carries significant FedEx Cup ramifications.

Last week’s winner was leading the FedEx Cup standings coming into the week and was trading the top spot in the projected standings with Scottie Scheffler through the first two rounds. Zalatoris will now earn no points this week, and unless Scheffler finishes outside the top 25 this week, Zalatoris will fall at least to second in the standings, but can drop no further than third. The standings after this week translate directly into the starting position for next week’s Tour Championship — instead of starting with a two-shot lead, Zalatoris will be either two or three shots back, if he’s able to play in the season finale.

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The injury occurred early Saturday. After playing his second at the fourth hole onto the back fringe from Wilmington Country Club’s deep rough, Zalatoris noticeably limped up the fairway before sitting down off the back of the green and trying to stretch out.

A PGA Tour rules official told Zalatoris he was OK to wait a few minutes before hitting his birdie putt, but he ultimately decided to go ahead and play out the hole, making par.

From there, Zalatoris and playing partner Emiliano Grillo waited around 15 minutes on the fifth tee, even letting the group behind them play through, for a PGA Tour physiotherapist to arrive and give treatment to Zalatoris’ back and left hip area. During the wait, Zalatoris appeared to be discussing scenarios for the FedEx Cup and next week’s Tour Championship with his caddie and a PGA Tour rules official.

Even after working with the trainer for several minutes, Zalatoris determined the issue was too much and turned in his card, withdrawing from the tournament. He was 4-under for the tournament and 1-under for the day after making birdie on the third hole.

In a statement released by the PGA Tour, Zalatoris’ manager, Allen Hobbs, confirmed the World No. 9 still planned on playing the the Tour Championship next week.

“Will tweaked his lower back during a shot on the 3rd hole today,” Hobbs said. “After getting it worked on and the pain not subsiding, he felt that it was best to withdraw from the BMW Championship so he can work with his trainer the next few days to get the inflammation to calm down. Will looks forward to playing next week in Atlanta.”

The Golf Channel broadcast team said Zalatoris declined an interview request.

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The post The simple and ingenius way Will Zalatoris improves his golf swing appeared first on Golf.

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Since the moment he arrived on the PGA Tour, you could make a solid case that Will Zalatoris is best ball striker in golf. He’s second in SG: Tree-To-Green this season, averaging over 312 yards off the tee (12th) and hitting more than 70 percent of his greens (8th). It’s why he ranks fourth in birdie average, despite ranking 103rd in SG: Putting.

Last year, I had the chance to pick Zalatoris’ brain about a few things ball-striking related, and one comment he made stuck with me: He said that ever since was a child he’s practiced swinging the golf club in slow motion. He does it when he’s working on his technique, or just trying to get his timing back.

“Whenever I’m working on something I rarely ever do it full speed. A lot of slow motion work,” he says. “It’s something my dad really drilled into me growing up. It helps me with my body awareness and matching stuff up.”

Zalataris spends the bulk of his time making swings in slow motion, he went on to say, then starts to hit shots using a slow motion swing. He slowly builds up speed from there.

Why you should practice swinging in slow motion

Swinging in slow motion is something that’s easy enough for the rest of us to do as we’re trying to improve our own moves. And good news! It turns out there’s some relevant science behind it which I wrote about here. Often, seeing the golf ball veer off in bad directions can inhibit your ability to make swing change. The short-term pain of seeing a golf ball fly in an unwanted direction can distract you from your longer-term goal of making a technical change that will leave you better off in the future.

Practicing swinging in slow motion allows you to get the reps you need with the technique you want to have while removing feedback that you don’t need. So give it a try.

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The post How Steph Curry inspired Will Zalatoris’ 18th-green celebration appeared first on Golf.

The post How Steph Curry inspired Will Zalatoris’ 18th-green celebration appeared first on Golf.

After making a clutch par putt on TPC Southwind’s 18th green on Sunday, Will Zalatoris was fired up.

Just as his Titleist Pro V1 fell over the front lip of the cup, the 25-year-old pumped his fist and screamed in celebration.

“What are they gonna say now!” he yelled. “Let’s go!”

Zalatoris’ clutch save proved to be monumental, helping him force a playoff with Sepp Straka, which he won in three holes for his first PGA Tour victory.

“It’s kind of hard to say ‘about time’ when it’s your second year on Tour,” Zalatoris said. “But about time.”

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It was an eventful day for the PGA Tour sophomore. From his clutch save on 18 to a series of wild bounces in the playoff to finally breaking through for a win, Sunday was anything but ordinary.

The moment that generated the most buzz though? Zalatoris letting out that epic scream as he drained the biggest putt of his young career. And, as it turns out, the California native drew inspiration for the cry from another Bay Area superstar.

Steph Curry let out the same scream earlier this summer after leading the Warriors to yet another NBA championship. Zalatoris was watching as the Dubs captured the title, and he didn’t forget Curry’s celebratory scream.

“You know, I’m a big Warriors fan and obviously Steph, he’s a Cal Club guy, he’s a pretty big inspiration obviously,” Zalatoris said. “I follow the Warriors like crazy and when he said that, it kind of related to kind of my journey so far.”

Zalatoris has often been close to victory early on his career, but a balky putter has kept him from glory. On Sunday, that wasn’t the case. He holed putts from 10, 14 and 7 feet over his final four holes (18 plus three playoff holes) to secure the victory — and silence the naysayers.

“So being that close and then kind of being written off here and there and then obviously finally pulling off, it was — I actually can’t believe I said that actually,” he said. “At least it wasn’t something worse.”

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Ron Prichard was glued to the FedEx St. Jude Championship playoff between Will Zalatoris and Sepp Straka at TPC Southwind Sunday evening.

He had a couple of good reasons for tuning in.

For one, the action was riveting, with Zalatoris and Straka trading blows over three thrilling holes of sudden death. For another, Prichard designed TPC Southwind, which opened for play back in 1988.

During the commercial before the third playoff hole — the watery par-3 11th — Prichard stepped away from the TV in his Philadelphia-area home. When he returned, he’d missed a few moments of the broadcast.

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“I came back in and what I did see was Straka’s ball go in the water,” Prichard told GOLF.com. “And when I saw his ball go in the water, I saw what I thought was a ball wedged in a little crease between the sod and the stone wall.”

Prichard’s eyes had not deceived him. Before Straka had rinsed his tee shot, Zalatoris had almost dunked his own tee ball.

Almost.

Zalatoris’ ball had come up short, just as Straka’s had, but it bounced several times on the stone wall guarding the front of the 11th green before nestling in a rut that separates the rough from the edge of the wall. “A minor miracle,” NBC analyst Paul Azinger said on the telecast.

“A couple of seconds later, they showed Zalatoris’ shot,” Prichard said. “I was shocked.”

Prichard was stunned not only because the ball had settled next to the wall but also because there was a wall there at all.

When the course opened for play, Prichard said, there were no walls by the water hazards — just turf that ran directly into the water a la what you see at Augusta National.

“I’ve always felt from a settings standpoint, and then obviously from a playing standpoint, that should not be a situation where a ball comes down and lands on top of a stone wall and bounces anywhere,” Prichard said.

The course added walls to several of its lakes in 2019, TPC Southwind superintendent Nick Bisanz told GOLF.com. The 11th hole was in particular need of a wall, he said, because the steep bank was beginning to collapse.

“We’ve never considered covering [the walls] with turf,” Bisanz said.

He added that Prichard’s preference to cover the walls isn’t necessarily wrong — it’s just Bisanz’s architectural preference to leave them exposed.

Bisanz also said that even a wall capped with turf could still lead to unpredictable bounces.

As for the result of Zalatoris’ tee ball? Bisanz said he was as surprised as everyone watching at home.

“I don’t see how his ball found that crevice,” he said. “That was a very unique little spot… I’ve never seen it before.”

In the end, Zalatoris’ potential break was moot, given he determined he couldn’t play his next shot from the wall. He took a drop and and still got up and down, which was good enough to beat Straka and claim his first PGA Tour title.

Still, the episode provided for some excellent theater, especially for the guy who designed the course.

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Welcome to Play Smart, a game improvement column and podcast from editor Luke Kerr-Dineen to help you play smarter, better golf.

Watching Will Zalatoris making a clutch putt on his 72nd hole of the FedEx St. Jude Championship — and then two more in the ensuing playoff itself — I was struck by a singular thought:

How could a so-called “bad” putter on the PGA Tour, still be this good at putting?

It probably speaks to fans’ tendency to generalize and oversimplify that we landed on this conclusion about Zalatoris. Indeed, it’s true that putting isn’t the strength of Zalatoris’ game. But there are more positives there than meet the eye, and in many ways, the rest of us can learn more from watching the way Zalatoris manages his game on the green than a more instinctual player whose putting comes more naturally.

So let’s break it down.

Yes, short putts are an issue

Let’s start with the knock on Zalatoris: That he’s somewhere between sketchy and shaky from short range. While it’s worth noting that he’s currently the leader on Tour in putts made from three feet, that’s more of a statistical quirk than anything else (I’ll explain why in a second). The fact remains he ranks 187th on tour in putting between four and eight feet, making about 64 percent of his putts from that range compared with the Tour average of 69 percent. In real terms, that equates to 10 putts over the course of this season that Zalatoris missed which the average PGA Tour player from this range made. They’re thin margins, but such is life on Tour.

Zalatoris has been open about his struggles from this range, which in large part involve him getting twitchy. That moves his putterface unpredictably, which can send the ball rolling in just the wrong direction, which on short putts, is the difference between missing and making.

He’s continued with his arm lock-claw combo method, but after his win, Zalatoris said he’s been experiencing some success moving at a slightly faster pace.

“I’ve tried to get a little bit quicker. Whenever I’ve struggled, I’ve been slow.” He says “I’m a fast walker, I’m obviously a fast talker, I do everything quick. But being able to just look at the target, roll the ball to there and move on, accept what happens from there. It’s the same thing in my full swing, take a couple practice swings, I walk into it, take two looks and then go. The second my eyes come back to the ball, the club’s being pulled back.”

His speed control his elite

Short putting is important, obviously, but it’s also just a sliver of what happens on the greens. A key component of what makes Zalatoris a top-caliber player is that his weaknesses on the greens are mostly confined to short range. Indeed, from longer range, he’s elite: He’s 3rd on tour in approach putt performance, leaving his ball exactly two feet on average (which bolsters his statistical performance from inside three feet that we mentioned above). Zalatoris is also 18th in Putts per Greens in Regulation, which for a player who ranks inside the top 10 in GIR, is a huge asset.

In a nutshell, Zalatoris is really good at two-putting. He may miss the occasional short putt, but he’s rarely making unforced errors with his initial putt from longer range. It may not be as glamorous as making lots of birdie putts for the highlight reel, but his speed control is really good on the putts that golfers tend to have a lot of. It just goes to show that putting in the hard work improving the unglamorous stuff can get you a long way in this game.

He maximizes the hot streaks

On balance, Zalatoris’ game involves hitting lots of fairways, lots of greens, lagging his birdie putts close, and tapping in for lots of easy pars. He misses a few of those short ones along the way, and other times, those birdie putts go in.

Whether you’re on the PGA Tour or an avid golfer at home, your job is to accept that that’s what putting is. Once you face a putt outside of eight feet, you’re statistically more likely to miss than make. Like flipping a coin and landing on heads five times in a row, some rounds you’ll drop everything you look at, and it’ll be super fun. Other times you’ll get unlucky, and you’ll miss a ream of putts you should make.

Zalatoris may not make his living, day-in and day-out on the PGA Tour, dropping lots of putts. But in many ways that’s why he’s such a mainstay among the top ranks.

In boasting a high level of consistency from tee-to-green, Zalatoris has situated his game so he is ready to take advantage of the good putting streaks whenever they do come. It means, in essence, that he doesn’t need to make putts to play well. But because his ball-striking and distance putting are so rock-solid, he can glean more of an advantage from the hot putting days when they do arrive. That’s what happened on Sunday, and he’s got his first PGA Tour trophy to show for it.

You can subscribe to the Play Smart podcast on Apple here, or on Spotify right here.

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The post Tour Confidential: PGA Tour-LIV court battle, Will Zalatoris’ breakthrough appeared first on Golf.

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Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the hottest topics in the sport, and join the conversation by tweeting us @golf_com. This week, we discuss the court battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, Will Zalatoris’ breakthrough victory and more. 

1. Even with a host of events around the world, this week’s biggest golf news came in a courtroom. In the first court case between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, a federal judge on Tuesday rejected the request of three LIV golfers for a temporary restraining order that would have allowed them to compete in the Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, which kicked off Thursday in Memphis. Notably, the hearing was separate from an antitrust suit filed against the Tour last week by a group of LIV golfers, alleging that the Tour is unlawfully sanctioning them for signing on with the rival circuit, and that case could start as early as the fall of next year. We’ll start generally: What was your biggest takeaway?

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Josh Sens, senior writer (@joshsens): The biggest was that the judge wasn’t buying the plaintiffs’ argument that the suspensions had caused them irreparable harm. Quite the opposite. She suggested that the LIV golfers had actually come out ahead in the deal by signing such lucrative contracts with the LIV circuit. That was the question that mattered most in the hearing, with more complicated antitrust issues getting kicked down the road. That’s the immediate takeaway. The longer term takeaway is: It seemed pretty clear from the hearing that both sides are going to have to answer some tough questions if and when this gets to court.

Dylan Dethier, senior writer (@dylan_dethier): My biggest takeaway? It was a much-needed win for the PGA Tour. The steady drip of player departures have meant that LIV has a natural advantage in the news cycle, and if LIV pros had been able to rejoin the FedEx Cup Playoffs, that would have been a real blow. This was the first week we really heard from several big-time PGA Tour players admitting just how much they wanted the defectors barred from the playoffs. Lots of having-cake-and-eating-it metaphors got tossed around. We’ll see if this little victory was a sign of things to come, but for now, it was good news for a PGA Tour that has been under siege.

Nick Piastowski, senior editor (@nickpia): A good win for the Tour, though this is just getting started. And things are going to get chippy in the meanwhile. I was drawn to this quote on Saturday by Ryan Palmer: “Yeah, the top-70 is huge because of next year … with pro-am status, CJ Cup, of course the invitationals, like you said. With the new world ranking system, that’s even more points as well. Points this week, points next week, which is huge. You know, East Lake is the ultimate goal, but BMW has a lot of perks, for sure. That’s what I love about what we do out here — there’s always somewhere to go up and there’s always something to play for. Win each week, move into the top-70, moving to East Lake. That’s what’s good about the PGA Tour is there’s somewhere to go. We’re not playing for just money. It’s great.” Why is that notable? He was followed in the interview area by Cam Smith. 

2. What most surprised you about the hearing?

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Sens: That a report by LIV’s own expert economic witness wound up being used against the plaintiffs. In that report, the expert said that the Tour’s suspensions stood to take such a toll that LIV had to pay the players a ton to adequately compensate them. It was one of those arguments that cut both ways, but it ultimately cut deeper against the LIV golfers. If they’d been paid so much to join LIV, how could they rightly claim that they’d been irreparably harmed? A couple of legal experts told me that this was a pretty big blunder by the plaintiffs, but one of those experts also said that they sympathized with the LIV attorneys because “it’s hard to win an argument in court when you’ve got bad facts.”

Dethier: I think what surprised me the most was just how invested current Tour pros were in its results. I referenced this in the previous answer, but on Tuesday in Memphis a group of high-profile pros was huddled around a stream of the hearing. PGA Tour players have been resisting the Us Vs. Them narrative — until now. Battle lines have been drawn. 

Piastowski: The comment from the judge where she stated something along the lines of that the LIV contracts lock up these players in ways the Tour never imagined. What the heck does that mean??

3. Is the Tour winning phase 1 of the legal battle an indication that the case will continue to lean the Tour’s way?

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Sens: The antitrust attorneys I’ve spoken with about this say it’s too early to draw any conclusions from this hearing; I’d just be speculating. One thing that does seem clear, though: that the more successful LIV becomes — the more top players it signs, the more market share it gains, etc. — the less it can credibly claim that the Tour is operating an unfair monopoly. It’s an interesting paradox. I have no idea how it will play out in the legal fight, but the point was raised in the hearing, and I’m sure it will come up again.

Dethier: As Sens suggests, this was a positive sign for the PGA Tour but certainly wasn’t conclusive. The Tour has some angles to defend, but it also has plenty of points to prove, including my favorite: showing just how successful LIV has been as a competitor. There’s some serious irony there — LIV, which has been shouting from the rooftops about its success, now has to show it has been excluded from the marketplace, while the PGA Tour can crow about LIV’s accomplishments. What a twisted web!

Piastowski: Yes, it’s too early. But as my colleagues write above, as LIV grows, its case that the Tour is a monopoly maybe shrinks. 

4. Will Zalatoris won the first FedEx Cup Playoff event on Sunday, beating Sepp Straka in a playoff to earn his first PGA Tour victory. What does the win mean for Zalatoris? And will the absence of top LIV signees ultimately hurt the playoffs in terms of fan interest?

Tournaments

Sens: I don’t think many fans are feeling a painful loss at this point. What’s more notable, I think, is all the attention that has gone to rumors and reports about who might be leaving next. Those stories have generated more buzz than the competition itself. 

Dethier: There was plenty of grousing throughout the week about the anonymity on the leaderboard, but what we got in the end was a terrific (and overdue) winner in Will Zalatoris, a thrilling playoff showdown and a reminder that the key to the PGA Tour is its every-week structure. We understand the stakes of a big-time Tour win, so when it’s close coming down the stretch, it’s exciting and it’s easy to contextualize. I’m glad we can move on from the when-will-Zalatoris-win storyline, because he’s good enough to be among the game’s elite, like, right now. Soon he’ll have the resume to prove it.

Piastowski: Zalatoris’ shout — ”What are they going to say now?!?” — was telling to me, albeit also a nod to Steph Curry. Though he was talking about his putting, you can tell the buildup was getting to him a bit. So to answer his question then, we’ll be wondering when the next one is coming, because there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be winning often. And no, I don’t think the playoffs will take a hit. The Tour still has its stars — and future stars like Tom Kim.  

5. In an interview on Subpar, Harris English said that with LIV luring away players from the PGA Tour, the biggest key to keeping the Tour an appealing and successful product will be engaging the next generation of young stars. “We’ve got to keep the young guys here,” he said of players like Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns and Scottie Scheffler. Do you agree that’s where the focus should be?

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Sens: I agree that guys like that — and other emerging talents — represent a crucial fireline where the Tour will need to make a stand. But then the question becomes, what do you do to appeal to them? Monahan has already acknowledged that the Tour can’t win a financial fight with LIV. Can it win by appealing to a sense of legacy? I don’t think that argument wins against the prospect of a few more commas in their bank balance.

Dethier: Yes. The PGA Tour has already renewed its focus on its top stars, but LIV has identified a weakness in the Tour model. There’s beauty in the meritocratic structure of the Tour, but there’s also an undeniable truth that the top players are underpaid while a legion of pros essentially unknown to the general public make well over a million bucks a year. There’s room to improve when it comes to rewarding the guys who sell tickets.

Piastowski: All good points above, and I agree. But I’ll add that there should continue to be some avenues to get to that level. I want pro golf to have a deep bench. 

6. Patrick Reed, who left for LIV Golf in June, made a pair of bold claims while playing in an Asian Tour event, where he said that LIV players were “sick and tired” of hearing about money as one of the reasons a golfer would join the controversial, Saudi-backed series. He also said: “I’m ready for the LIV golfers to go ahead and play against guys on the PGA Tour. I’m pretty sure we can hold our own.” Any chance we’ll ever see a Ryder Cup-style LIV vs. PGA Tour clash?

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Sens: Funny you mention that — I was just joking to a friend the other day that they should take this fight from the courts to the course: Ryder Cup-style competition. Loser packs up its operation and goes away. I’m not advocating for that. But it would probably be the most-watched golf event of all time. And given the way public life has increasingly gone the way of a reality TV show, it would be perversely fitting. 

Dethier: Isn’t this the direction the major championships are going to go?

Piastowski: Dylan took my answer. But as part of a team event? Maybe that’s Phil’s next pitch for the Match, which would be … something.

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The post ‘What are they going to say now?!?’ Will Zalatoris wins first title in chaotic finish  appeared first on Golf.

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Will Zalatoris was asked about the grind and how he keeps doing it. He was stuck on zero victories over his two-plus years on golf’s biggest circuit, stuck with a slew of near-misses and stuck with questions of when the breakthrough would come.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s frustrating, motivating, all those things,” he said Friday. “I mean, I’ve been close all year, and I think that over the last month I’ve learned a lot about my game, and I think it’s something that going forward I’m pretty excited. … We’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing. 

“You can’t play this good that often and not get a win, so just got to kind of let it get in the way.”

On Sunday, it did. Finally. In one of the one wildest finishes you’ll see, no less. 

In the end, Zalatoris won the FedEx St. Jude Championship on the third hole of a playoff with Sepp Straka, his 7-foot bogey putt on the par-3 11th at TPC Southwind clinching it. Though that was far from the only clutch stroke and decision made in the gloaming in Memphis. A four-hole, hour-long sequence will no doubt be replayed in Zalatoris’ head for a while. 

— On the 450-yard, par-4 18th during regulation, we’ll call what went down here The Shout. Tied with Straka at 15-under, Zalatoris hit his third shot to 10 feet, dropped the putt for par, then yelled: “What are they going to say now?!?,” which Steph Curry asked after his Golden State Warriors won last season’s NBA title. Zalatoris’ version was telling. If there’s been a criticism of the 25-year-old’s game, it’s been his putting, and he has apparently heard, then everyone heard him.

— Straka, in the group behind, also parred, and they moved to the first hole of the playoff, back on 18. We’ll label this Routine, only because little else was over this stretch. Both players were on the green in two, both two-putted, both made par. Back to 18 again for the second hole of the playoff. 

— Chaos! On the second hole of the playoff, Zalatoris hit his tee shot right, it hit the cart path, his ball bounced up into a tree, and it settled feet from the boundary fence — which was followed by Straka’s tee shot, which went left, into the penalty area and feet from water. Each player then made a pair of wise decisions and putts. Zalatoris elected to hit a short wedge out instead of trying to run his ball up to the green that was guarded by the water on the left; Straka, seeing that, took a penalty drop and hit to 6 feet from 150 yards out. On the putts, Zalatoris made a left-to-right 10-footer after a pitch on, and Straka matched the par. Whew.

— CHAOS! All caps. On the third hole of the playoff, on the short, 151-yard, par-3 11th, Zalatoris hit an iron right, the ball dribbled along the bricks that divide the green from water — and it nestled up against a layer of sod while somehow not getting wet. Straka wasn’t as lucky; his tee shot went in the same direction and splashed. From there, Straka hit into the bunker over the green after taking his drop in the drop zone, he hit on with his fourth shot — and Zalatoris, after a long look at his lie, picked his ball up, also went back to the drop and hit to 7 feet. 

Which he rolled in. And finally the playoff was over. And finally he was a winner. 

“Adrenaline’s still pumping,” Zalatoris said during his greenside interview on NBC. 

“Looking forward to having some celebrations tonight.”

The takeaway 

Zalatoris is finally a winner. There will be more. A lot more. Especially if he’s figured out the flatstick. 

The leaderboard breakdown 

— J.J. Spaun leads by one shot entering the final round. He’s at 13-under, Sepp Straka is at 12-under, Will Zalatoris and Trey Mullinax are at 11-under, and Tyler Duncan and Troy Merritt are at 10-under. Notably, Cam Smith was also at 11-under, then was docked two strokes for an improper drop during Saturday’s third round, and he starts at nine-under. 

— Zalatoris birdies his first two holes, and he pulls into a share of the lead. Zalatoris and Spaun are at 13-under, Straka is at 12-under, Denny McCarthy is at 11-under, and 13 players are at 10-under. 

— Zalatoris birdies the 578-yard, par-5 3rd on a 15-foot putt, and he takes a one-shot lead. Zalatoris is at 14-under, Spaun is at 13-under, Straka is at 12-under, and Adam Scott is at 11-under. 

— Spaun bogeys the 3rd after hitting his third shot into a greenside bunker, and Zalatoris’ lead is two shots. Zalatoris is at 14-under, Spaun and Straka are at 12-under, and Scott and Tony Finau are at 11-under. 

— Spaun birdies the 423-yard, par-4 6th on a 12-foot putt, and he moves to within a shot of the lead. Zalatoris is at 14-under, Spaun is at 13-under, and Scott, Straka and Brian Harman are at 12-under. 

— Zalatoris bogeys the 475-yard, par-4 7th after hitting his tee shot up against a tree, and he falls into a share of the lead. Zalatoris and Spaun are at 13-under, Scott, Straka and Harman are at 12-under, and Finau, Jon Rahm, Lucas Glover and Collin Morikawa are at 11-under.

— Harman birdies the 468-yard, par-4 13th on a 13-foot putt, and he moves into a share of the lead with Zalatoris and Spaun. Zalatoris, Spaun and Harman are at 13-under, Scott and Straka are at 12-under, and Rahm, Glover, Morikawa, Finau and Andrew Putnam are at 11-under. 

— Spaun bogeys the 7th after hitting his tee shot into a bunker, and he falls out of the lead. Zalatoris and Harman are at 13-under, Scott, Spaun and Straka are at 12-under, and Rahm, Glover, Morikawa, Finau and Putnam are at 11-under. 

— Harman bogeys the 220-yard par-3 14th after hitting his tee shot into a greenside bunker, and he falls out of the lead. Zalatoris is at 13-under, Harman, Glover and Straka are at 12-under, and Scott, Rahm, Morikawa, Finau, Putnam and Wyndham Clark are at 11-under. 

— Glover birdies the 489-yard, par-4 17th after hitting his second shot to 6 feet, and he moves into a share of the lead. Zalatoris and Glover are at 13-under, Morikawa, Harman and Straka are at 12-under, and Scott, Rahm, Finau and Putnam are at 11-under. 

— Zalatoris birdies the 447-yard, par-4 10th after hitting his second shot to 7 feet, and he retakes a one-shot lead. He’s at 14-under, Glover is at 13-under, Morikawa, Harman and Straka are at 12-under, and Scott, Rahm, Finau and Putnam are at 11-under. 

— Straka birdies the 389-yard, par-4 12th on a 13-foot putt, and he moves into a share of the lead. Zalatoris and Straka are at 14-under, Glover, Harman, Finau and Mullinax are at 12-under, and Scott, Rahm, Morikawa, Putnam and Matt Fitzpatrick are at 11-under. 

— Zalatoris birdies the 512-yard, par-5 16th, receiving some good luck when his tee shot hit off a tree right and went back into the fairway, and he takes a one-shot lead. Zalatoris is at 15-under, Straka is at 14-under, and Mullinax is at 13-under. 

— Straka birdies the 16, and he and Zalatoris are tied for the lead again. Zalatoris and Straka are at 15-under, and Mullinax is at 13-under. 

— On the 450-yard, par-4 18th, Zalatoris rolls in a 10-foot putt for par, and he stays at 15-under with Straka. Mullinax bogeys the hole, and he is at 12-under with Glover and Harman. 

— In the group behind, Straka hits the 18th green in two, two-putts, and he and Zalatoris move on to a playoff, which will start back on the 18th. 

— On the first hole of the playoff, Zalatoris hits into the first cut right of the fairway with his tee shot, and Straka hits the fairway. On their second shots, Zalatoris hits it short and to the right, but is on the green, and Straka hits it pin high and 24 feet away. On their birdie putts, Zalatoris misses just to the right from 42 feet, and Straka rolls his putt 6 feet past the hole before making the comebacker. The playoff continues, back on 18.

— On the second hole of the playoff, Zalatoris hits his tee shot right, it hits the cart path and skips right but remains in play, while Straka’s ball lands into the penalty area left but is not in the water. On Zalatoris’ second shot, from up against a green boundary fence, he pitches back out to the fairway. On Straka’s second stroke, he elects to take penalty relief after watching Zalatoris hit, and he hits his third stroke, from 150 yards out, to 6 feet. On Zalatoris’ third shot, from 94 yards out, to 13 feet. On Zalatoris’ par putt, he sinks the left-to-righter for par. On Straka’s par putt, he makes his left-to-righter, The playoff continues, on 11. 

— On the third hole of the playoff, the 151-yard, par-3 11th, things get wild. Zalatoris hits his tee shot right, and it stays out of the water by hanging up in the bricks that divide the green from the water — then Straka hits into the water. On Straka’s third shot, from the drop zone, he hits into the bunker over the green. On Straka’s fourth shot, he hits out of the bunker to 4 feet. On Zalatoris’ second shot, he elects to take an unplayable, goes back to the drop zone, and he hits it to 7 feet. Zalatoris makes his bogey putt, and he wins his first PGA Tour tournament.      

The final word 

“It was a grind. This week, didn’t have my best stuff on Thursday and I kept telling Joel, just keep waiting till the weekend, and to see the decision pay off at the last was pretty cool.” — Zalatoris on NBC, as tears started to form 

The post ‘What are they going to say now?!?’ Will Zalatoris wins first title in chaotic finish  appeared first on Golf.

The post Winner’s bag: Will Zalatoris’ gear at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship appeared first on Golf.

The post Winner’s bag: Will Zalatoris’ gear at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship appeared first on Golf.

Will Zalatoris outlasted Sepp Straka in a sudden-death playoff to win his first PGA Tour title at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Take a closer look at the Titleist setup Zalatoris used in Memphis.

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (Fujikura Speeder 661 TR X shaft), 8 degrees

3-wood: Titleist TSR2+ (Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8X shaft), 13.0 degrees

Irons: Titleist T200 (3-iron; Nippon NS Pro Modus 3 shaft), Titleist T100 (4-PW; True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue shafts)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-08F, 54-10S degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue shafts), Titleist WedgeWorks (60T degrees; True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 Tour Issue shaft)

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X11 Prototype Long

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Grip: Golf Pride Z-Grip Cord

Want to overhaul your bag for 2022? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news and information, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast below.

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The post Will Zalatoris’ fiancée asked an innocent question — and committed a golf no-no appeared first on Golf.

The post Will Zalatoris’ fiancée asked an innocent question — and committed a golf no-no appeared first on Golf.

You’ve asked the question. It’s been asked of you. And it is with that that Caitlin Sellers asked her fiance, Will Zalatoris, on Thursday about his weekend plans.

But … 

To set this up, Zalatoris shot a one-over par 71 on Thursday during his first round at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. He was nine strokes behind leaders J.J. Spaun and Si Woo Kim. He had just 18 holes to make a move to survive the cut.  

And Zalatoris and Sellers talked Thursday night. 

Tournaments

“I kind of had a hilarious conversation with my fiancee about it because she asked me on Thursday night what my plans were if I didn’t make the weekend,” Zalatoris said Saturday night. 

“She meant that in all good fun.”

Oh boy. You know the issue here. You can ask the question, and you can be asked it, but tread carefully if you ask a pro golfer what they may be doing on Saturday and Sunday when they’re working on Thursday and Friday in hopes of working more on the weekend.

A reporter then asked a key follow-up question. 

“What answer did you give her?”

“I told her let’s cross that bridge when we get there,” Zalatoris said. 

This is a golf site, not a marriage one, but that was handled like a pro. The exchange may have even been motivational. Hours after the conversation, Zalatoris shot a seven-under 63 during Friday’s second round, which tied for the lowest score of the day, and, yes, he moved on to the weekend. On Saturday, Zalatoris shot a five-under 65, and he entered Sunday’s final round two shots back of the lead. 

News

Ahead of the St. Jude, Zalatoris has had a notable two-plus-year stretch on the PGA Tour, and a notable past week. Starting with the U.S. Open in 2020, the 25-year-old has compiled a whopping 16 top 10s, including six in the majors, and he’s moved to No. 14 in the world. Still, he’s without a win, and so, somewhat surprisingly, he split with his longtime caddie, Ryan Goble, between the second and third rounds of last week’s Wyndham Championship as the near-misses continued to pile up. 

Going forward, Joel Stock will be on Zalatoris’ bag, and if you’re looking what may have been the difference between Thursday’s 71 and Friday’s 63, it may have been this: On Thursday, Zalatoris was reading his own putts; on Friday and Saturday, Stock and Zalatoris were both reading them. 

“You know, I think it was honestly just we’re still trying to figure each other out a little bit,” Zalatoris said. “Typically a really good green reader, but it think it’s — you know, we haven’t really had different reads on any putts so far; it’s really just been having the confirmation that we got the right read and if it goes in, it goes in, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. But I think the confirmation part is the part that’s really helped.”

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