It’s ‘win-or-go-home’ for Will Zalatoris in the Wyndham Championship
How long does it take to make a golf swing? A couple of seconds?
That’s how long it took for Will Zalatoris to have his year take a sudden change on the golf course.
It came during the British Open in July. The former Wake Forest All-America was on the 15th hole at Royal St. George’s. Playing a shot out of the rough, Zalatoris, who is almost as slender as a golf club, took a big swing through the thick grass and hurt his lower back.
Things have not been the same since that swing. Zalatoris, 24, did not play again until last week at the World Golf Championships event in Memphis, Tennessee. He’ll be in Greensboro this week for the Wyndham Championship, but likely not pain-free. That will take longer because of his disk injury.
“I’ve kind of been fighting my body ... specifically over the last few weeks,” Zalatoris said Tuesday on a PGA Tour media call. “I’m doing OK. It’s still a pretty big effort every day to get moving. It’s one of those things where I’m going to keep listening to my body in terms of future plans.”
Talk about a golf paradox. Zalatoris, the 2017 ACC player of the year, was the runner-up in this year’s Masters, one shot behind the winner, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan. He tied for eighth in the 2021 PGA Championship. He was sixth in the 2020 U.S. Open.
Zalatoris has won $3.45 million during the PGA Tour’s 2020-21 season, with eight top-10 finishes in 24 starts. He’s No. 29 in the World Golf Ranking this week.
But Zalatoris is not a full member of the PGA Tour. His status, for now, is “temporary special member.” Unless he wins the Wyndham this week at Sedgefield Country Club, he will not qualify for the tour’s season-ending FedEx Cup Playoffs that begin next week.
Zalatoris has won on the Korn Ferry Tour. But he needs his first PGA Tour victory to keep his season moving.
“Obviously this week it’s win or go home,” Zalatoris said Tuesday. “Second means as much as missing a cut, so I’ve got nothing to lose this week.”
Zalatoris told pgatour.com that the pain from the swing at the British Open on July 16 was like “getting stabbed” in the back of his left leg. It also came, he said, from being “a little dumb and a little fearless” on the shot from the rough.
Zalatoris withdrew from the British Open and took time off. He putted a little but did little else. He worked with his personal trainer. It was a day-by-day thing.
The Sunday before the FedEx-St. Jude Invitational, Zalatoris decided to play a few holes and decide if he was able to go in the WGC event.
“I was 50-50 on playing,” he said Tuesday.”I hadn’t touched a golf club since the British at that point.”
Zalatoris played. He opened with a pair of 66s, then went 67-69 in the final two rounds to tie for eighth place. Then, it was on to Greensboro.
Zalatoris said he has played the Sedgefield course 15 to 20 times but not since 2018, when he received a sponsor’s exemption into the Wyndham. He missed the cut that year but said he likes the Donald Ross design.
Many golf fans got their first good look at Zalatoris this year at the Masters. A San Francisco native who grew up in Plano, Texas, he was the only player under par in all four rounds at Augusta National Golf Club. Closing at 9-under-par 279, he was two shots ahead of one of his Texas buddies, Jordan Speith, and Xander Schauffele.
The 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur champion, Zalatoris was a first-team All-America at Wake Forest, where he was on the Arnold Palmer Scholarship. He was named to the 2017 U.S. Walker Cup team. He was always the skinny guy with the big swing, shooting low scores.
Zalatoris said he and his fiancee spent time Monday walking the Wake Forest campus, reminiscing, relaxing. It was a good way to ease into tournament week.
“That’s where I met her, so obviously this place is near and dear to the heart,” he said. “I love the Winston-Salem area. We went to all of our favorite restaurants (Monday) throughout the day.
“A lot of really cool memories. Every time I come back, it’s almost spiritual in a weird way.”
Wyndham Championship
▪ When: Thursday-Sunday, Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro.
▪ Information: www.wyndhamchampionship.com.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
