NEWS FROM THE TOUR VANS
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After missing most of last season recovering from back surgery, Will Zalatoris started to look like his old self with a runner-up finish in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera.
Among the tweaks to his swing and moving his ball position forward to take pressure off his back and learning how to use the same L.A.B. Mezz.1 Max putter used by Adam Scott and Lucas Glover, Zalatoris came into 2024 with a total overhaul of his Titleist tools. The changes finally produced the kind of stats at Riviera that we’d come to expect from him in 2022 when he was the PGA Tour’s most consistently strong iron player leading in strokes gained tee-to-green and approach.
After his seven-month surgical sabbatical, Zalatoris switched into the more forgiving Titleist T-150 irons despite all of his success with his previous T100s. The new T150s have a slightly thicker topline to combine getting a little more distance with more forgiveness on off-center strikes. He bent them back to match his old lofts.
But mostly Zalatoris made the switch because the new irons remind him of the first adult irons he played with.
“I had 695MBs when I was 12 with like ladies’ steel shafts in them and I just wore those to pieces,” he told GolfWRX.com in January. “I just thought that’s what (the T150s) look like. When I set them down, I just loved them. I loved the T100s. I won with them – I had them in the bag for two-plus years – but it’s one of things you look down on (the T150 irons), and you have a ton of confidence.”
It showed at the Genesis, where he distanced himself from his rusty season start to rank fourth in the field in strokes gained approach to green, T3 in greens in regulation and first in birdies. His perfect 7-iron on the 14th hole for an ace even won himself and his caddie, Joel Stock, a couple of new Genesis cars.
Zalatoris also switched to a new T350 “game-improvement” 3-iron with the number scraped off that he uses as a driving iron to replace his old T200.
The overhaul also includes the Titleist TSR2 driver – with a higher launch to keep him from trying to lift up too much – and a 15-degree TSi2 3-wood. Both help take a load off his back.
His bag upgrades also include a switch to the Vokey SM10 wedges (50, 54 and 60 degrees).
As for that broomstick putter, Zalatoris said before his 2024 debut in Hawaii that he wished he’d discovered it 10 years ago.
“I love it,” he said. “You rock your shoulders and that’s it. It takes the hands out of it completely. I’ve always been very linear. It feels way more straight back-straight through as opposed to trying to work on an arc. It’s just the best way.”
Scott Michaux