NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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Will Zalatoris didn’t necessarily need more distance. The Wake Forest golfer ranked No. 31 in strokes gained off-the-tee last season and No. 23 in driving distance – respectable numbers in an era of golf where driver is by far the most important club in the bag – so there was certainly no panic to drastically change his swing, equipment or philosophy off the tee.
Still, Zalatoris wanted to see if he could find more distance without upsetting the applecart. He did so with a combination of fitness and gear tweaks.
In addition to putting on 15 pounds to his lanky 6-foot-2 frame, the native Texan decided to switch from a 44.5-inch driver shaft into a 45.6-inch shaft, swapping out a different Fujikura model in the process.
Immediately, he saw an extra 12 yards of carry with his Titleist TSi3. Early in the new PGA Tour season, Zalatoris is up to No. 14 in strokes gained off the tee and No. 20 in driving distance.
“That’s something that is going to be huge out here,” Zalatoris told PGATour.com. “There’s multiple courses where that extra 12 yards of carry will allow me to hit it over bunkers I was hitting into last year.”
Most players with Zalatoris’ natural speed aren’t overly concerned with adding distance, but he credited an off-season period of “boredom” to his experimentation. There is a new rule on the PGA Tour that shafts can’t exceed 46 inches, so Zalatoris had some space to work with to see if a longer driver shaft would make an impact.
Zalatoris still plans on using the 44.5-inch shaft for certain tournaments, particularly when venues are short and narrow. Interestingly, he described the long and narrow Torrey Pines as a place where accuracy doesn’t matter nearly as much.
“Torrey Pines is the perfect spot for it, where the fairways are tight and it’s a long golf course where you’re trying to hit it as far as you can out there,” Zalatoris said. “Distance is where it’s at now.”
It worked, as Zalatoris came painstakingly close to his first PGA Tour win at the Farmers Insurance Open, losing in a playoff to Luke List. His balky putter is still dragging him down, however. Zalatoris came into last week ranked No. 141 in strokes gained putting after being No. 122 last year.
It’s a stark contrast to his ballstriking. Zalatoris is gaining more than two strokes a round against the field tee to green, ranking No. 1 on tour as of last week.
Sean Fairholm