AUGUSTA, Ga. – Last Masters Thursday, Will Zalatoris hit one shot. It was the first swing of his warm-up, with a 7-iron, and as soon as his clubface compressed the golf ball and dug into the turf, he knew something was badly amiss.
Minutes later, Zalatoris was withdrawing from the Masters and beginning a journey that would include a microdiscectomy on his back and nearly eight months away from competitive golf.
“I could feel the disc slipping, and I was kind of hiding it from everybody, including members of my team,” Zalatoris said. “… I felt the jar in my back and then the tingling down the legs, and I knew immediately what it was. Literally just one 7-iron.”
A year later, Zalatoris hit a bunch of shots, though just 70 official ones. Despite bogeys on each of his last two holes, Zalatoris sits in red numbers, at 2 under.
Zalatoris attacked the par-5s in gusty conditions on Thursday, carding birdies at Nos. 2, 8 and 15, and eagling the par-5 13th hole by sticking a 194-yard approach shot to 8 feet and rolling in the putt.
Zalatoris’ 70 is the seventh under-par round of his Masters career; he’s played just nine rounds total, and posted finishes of second and T-6.
Why the comfort?
Will Zalatoris chips in to save par on No. 5. 👏 #TheMasters
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) April 11, 2024
🎥 @TheMasterspic.twitter.com/cFifN70MjU
“Some people might have the pressure get to them,” Zalatoris said. “For me, what do you have to lose? We all want a green jacket. It’s what we dream of. I think this is the one major where we play the same golf course every single year, and the more I play it, the more comfortable I get, the more little details that you pick up on certain hole locations, the wind swirls around this place, and I’m finally getting to a point now where I feel like I’m able to figure out where the wind has kind of turned the corner a little bit.”
While Zalatoris flew the green with his approach at No. 17 and flared his drive at No. 18 into the trees, he’s in a much better spot than he was 12 months ago.
“I hit 10 great golf shots on the last two holes coming in,” Zalatoris said. “That’s just part of what it is around this place. It’s playing brutal, but it’s a lot of fun right now.”
