Zalatoris on cusp of having life changed
BROOKLINE, Mass. — Will Zalatoris is built like a flag stick, and that is the most conspicuous thing about him. He “bulked up” in the offseason to add 15 pounds to his 6-foot-2 frame, yet still looks like a guy who could be blown into a bunker by a stiff U.S. Open breeze.
But even with the Father’s Day forecast at The Country Club calling for relatively cold and windy conditions, don’t expect the 175pound Zalatoris to buckle in the least. At 25, he has already proven to be a fearless player when confronted by major championship pressure, and it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through and does something his good friend, former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, never did: Win the big one. Zalatoris hasn’t claimed any PGA Tour victories to date, despite 15 top-10 finishes. So he can check off all kinds of boxes Sunday by beating the major champions near the top of the board, including defending U.S. Open champ Jon Rahm, who is one stroke behind the Romo bud who shares the lead at 4-under with Matthew Fitzpatrick.
Confidence won’t be a problem for Zalatoris, a former suburban Dallas high school product who has five top-eight finishes in the last seven majors in which he has competed, including a second-place showing in the 2021 Masters and a playoff loss to Justin Thomas last month in the PGA Championship.
“I think especially coming off the PGA, it gave me a lot of belief and confidence that I belong in this situation,” Zalatoris said after shooting a 3-under 67, the best score of the day. “There’s a difference in thinking it and then actually being in the situation and believing it. So I think that’s probably the biggest change. I’ve put myself in this situation a few times in my career, and obviously have to go out and get it tomorrow.
“I think the fact that this place is that brutal and there’s many major champions that are around the leaderboard … I don’t feel like I’m holding a lead and trying to protect it by any means. You can’t play defensive on this golf course. You almost have to play aggressively defensive.”
Outside of Rahm, reigning Masters champ Scottie Scheffler is only two strokes off the lead, and four-time major champ Rory McIlroy is three back. Can Zalatoris overcome their challenges while also finding a way to defeat Fitzpatrick, who won the 2013 U.S. Amateur that Zalatoris also played in on this course?
Last year, when his friend was threatening to win the Masters, Romo told The Post’s Mark Cannizzaro that he was mocked for telling people Zalatoris was a top-20 talent in the world and future superstar at a time when the kid didn’t even have status on the Korn Ferry tour. Zalatoris, a former Wake Forest star, will need all of that talent in the final round to tame The Country Club course.
“This place is a beast,” Zalatoris said. “When I played during the Am in 2013, I said this was the hardest golf course that I had ever played. It’s just so easy to compound mistakes out here.
“[But] on top of the belief that I belong in these situations, I think it’s also the belief that when I’m off, I’m not that far off. A lot of golfers will attest that … when we’re playing poorly, we think we’re playing worse. When we’re playing well, we think we’re Tiger.”
Zalatoris isn’t built like Tiger Woods. But if he plays like him Sunday, his life will change forever.