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HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA | The thrill of being 24-year-old Will Zalatoris continued last week in this enchanting destination where the moss-draped streets are named for sea birds and alligators lounge on lagoon banks like yard art.
The buzz of his runner-up finish in the Masters was still fresh when Zalatoris took a moment to open his phone where he found 852 text messages congratulating him on his star-making performance at Augusta National.
It took a while but Zalatoris went through every message. (“Thankfully a lot of them were group texts,” he said.) And he was most surprised to find a few from middle school friends who were reaching out for the first time in years.
Zalatoris got another reminder of his new celebrity status when he stopped into Whole Foods to pick up some bottled water, the kind of errand he’s been able to run unnoticed for years. That was before his 3-iron thin build and shock of blond hair became as familiar as a family photo to golf fans.
Before he could check out, Zalatoris was stopped for one photo and two autographs. Not exactly Tiger Woods attention but evidence that Zalatoris is bull-rushing his way to stardom. He even has the social media love tap from Adam Sandler (many think Zalatoris resembles the caddie for Sandler in the movie ‘Happy Gilmore’) to prove it.
He has the game, built on modern power and a fearless mindset. He has the confidence, as if it’s part of his DNA. And, Zalatoris has the intangibles that help separate him in a sport crowded with contenders.
If Zalatoris’ remarkable rise can be attributed to a single thought, it may be the one he expressed on Saturday night at the Masters.
“I’ve wanted to be here my entire career, and I’m not going to shy away from it,” Zalatoris said, sitting four behind Matsuyama after 54 holes. “I’ve wanted to do this. I’ve wanted to put on a green jacket my entire career, and I’ve got a good opportunity to do it. So let’s go do it.”
Zalatoris said it with a smile.
Not the cocky smile of a 24-year old who thinks he knows more than he does.
It was a smile of joy.
For more than a year now, Zalatoris has been on what seems like a sprint to where he now finds himself.
“His expectations were set at an early age,” said David Price, Zalatoris’ longtime coach at Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas.
Even as Zalatoris worked his way through another good week at the RBC Heritage, the Masters memories were still sharp but the bigger impact was still blurry. For more than a year now, Zalatoris has been on what seems like a sprint to where he now finds himself.
He’s gone from the Korn Ferry Tour to a surprising T6 finish in the U.S. Open in September to a run of 13 consecutive made cuts while playing on sponsor exemptions, a good enough run that he will have his full PGA Tour privileges when the 2021-22 season begins, not that he will lack for starts this season.
Some time this week, when he’s home in Dallas for a few days, Zalatoris expects to take a deep breath. It will be just his third week off in the past 14.
“That’s where I think it will really kick in,” Zalatoris said. “When we’re going out to dinner and somebody stops me or something like that. That’s when it will be different.”
It’s already happening.
This is just the latest milepost in a journey that has only ever had one destination – winning on the game’s biggest stage.
Wake Forest golf coach Jerry Haas has a photo of Zalatoris on a practice range hitting balls – as a 3-year old.
“Perfect extension,” Haas said.
Zalatoris was still a youngster when the late Ken Venturi watched him hitting balls on the range at the California Club, where his family had a membership when they lived in San Francisco. Venturi put Zalatoris’ hands in the proper position for the overlap grip and told him to never change it.
He never has.
Like his friend Jordan Spieth, Zalatoris showed his talent early. He shot 65 in an AJGA event in the Carolinas as a 12-year-old. Less than two weeks later, Zalatoris shot 65 again – this time in the U.S. Junior Amateur qualifier where the tees were all the way back and he was competing against 17-year-olds.
Four tries later, he won the U.S. Junior, beating his now-roommate Davis Riley.
“He’s very grounded. He expects to play well,” Price said.
Zalatoris looks the part – and not just because he can hit 245-yard 4-irons that land like sand wedges.
For a time, Zalatoris struggled on the greens.
“For lack of a better word, he got the yips,” Price said. “It was unfortunate to watch.”
Stanford and Texas backed off scholarship offers because of Zalatoris’ putting issues. Haas at Wake Forest stuck with him, offering him the Arnold Palmer scholarship.
“I remember his dad telling me that Will said I had offered him an A.P. scholarship,” Haas said. “He thought it was an academic scholarship and his dad told him it was the Arnold Palmer scholarship.”
By college, Zalatoris had solved his putting issues by using the claw grip and he became a two-time All-American. After college, Zalatoris settled on the Matt Kuchar-style arm-lock putting method.
“He said this is the one,” Price remembers. “I’m going to stay with it until I make it work. I’m going to be a good putter and I’m going to do it this way.”
Through will and work, Zalatoris got there. He has a team around him – Josh Gregory does short-game and putting work, Dr. Michael Lardon is a sports psychologist and Price is the wise old man who has been around the game for decades – but Zalatoris is his own man.
In addition to the two All-American nods at Wake Forest, he was part of the victorious 2017 U.S. Walker Cup team that included Collin Morikawa, Cameron Champ, Scottie Scheffler and Maverick McNealy among others. When others succeeded before he did – Zalatoris missed getting his PGA Tour card by one stroke in the 2018 Korn Ferry finals – he didn’t mope.
He was motivated by seeing his contemporaries succeed because he knew he could do what they were doing.
“You never plan exactly what your journey will be,” Zalatoris said.
Haas remembers Zalatoris telling him that once he got to the PGA Tour, he didn’t want to bounce between that and the Korn Ferry Tour the way some players do. He wanted to be fully prepared.
Two years ago he was looking at mini-tour schedules. Now he’s being mentioned as a possible Ryder Cup team member. When Zalatoris talked with Price the Monday after the Masters, it was like so many other talks they’ve had through the years.
Price told Zalatoris to remember it was a new week and he “was tied for last” again. It was time to start over again. Zalatoris loved it.
“His life has been golf,” Price said. “That’s all there is to it.”
As a teenager with a growing national profile, Zalatoris was a star of sorts at Bent Tree. Price was struck by a simple gesture Zalatoris made time after time.
If he was heading out to play a few holes, he would almost always stop by the putting green and get some of the younger players to go with him. The 10-year olds-and the 12-year-olds followed him like the Pied Piper.
“He made every kid at that club better,” Price said.
At home the next two weeks, Zalatoris can exhale. He will spend time with his girlfriend, Caitlyn Sellers, and probably allow his mind to wander back to what he did at Augusta and what he wants to do from here.
He might get busy in the kitchen. Zalatoris is a bit of a foodie and he’s not afraid to step outside his comfort zone when it comes to making dinner. He’s adventurous enough to have made Asian-style dumplings and is on the lookout for something new to try.
Zalatoris is waiting for the fourth season of Yellowstone to be released, a series he ranks among his favorites with Entourage and Homeland. He probably will play some golf at Maridoe Golf Club with his buddy Tony Romo, who knows a thing or two about handling great expectations.
It was nearly 2 a.m. Monday after the Masters when Haas got a text from Zalatoris. One shot away, Zalatoris texted his college coach. He was bummed to have come so close.
Haas told him to think about what he had done as a Masters rookie and what it could mean the next time he’s there.
“I kind of humble myself and say, ‘I didn’t win, I finished second,’ ” Zalatoris said in the lingering glow last week.
So close, having come so far so fast.
With the thrill of the open road ahead.
TOP: Will Zalatoris and caddie Ryan Goble during the final round of the Masters
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