As big names started to move on from the PGA Tour to join the Saudi-backed, Greg Norman-led LIV Golf Series, rumors began to fly on which star would be next.
Will Zalatoris’ name was thrown in the mix.
However, he immediately shot down the notion with a social media post on June 30th: “I have dreamed of winning on the PGA Tour and winning majors since I was a little kid. I love where the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour and their associated tours are headed.”
Fast forward a month and he’s still being asked questions about LIV, but this time it’s about the potential distraction the newly-born league is causing.
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“I’m a Player Advisory Council member, so we talk about it internally a lot,” he said Tuesday ahead of this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club. “It’s a wild time for the PGA Tour and I guess golf as a whole, but the changes that I think are going to happen and everything that’s going to come down the road is only going to make us stronger.”
“And we are the best tour. Every week we’re playing the best courses on the planet…I just think that just let time come and let everything kind of settle and it will be very clear, but right now with all the changes and how everything has been just so wild and a lot of hearsay, I think that we just need to let the dust settle if you will, and we’ll be just fine.”
As for this week, the 25-year-old has his sights set on getting his first win.
“Yeah, obviously I’ve been really close to getting that first win, knocked on the door a bunch,” he said. “Just got to keep doing what we’re doing. Game’s been feeling really good. I think everything has been really starting to click, especially after this week off.”
Zalatoris has lost in two playoffs already this season. One to Luke List at the Farmers Insurance Open and another at the PGA Championship to Justin Thomas. In all, the Wake Forest product has eight top 10s, including another heart-breaking defeat at the U.S. Open.
Will Zalatoris reacts after missing a putt on the 18th green during the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. (Photo: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports)
Despite the winless 2021-22 campaign, Zalatoris sits ninth in the FedEx Cup standings. Last year, despite having enough points to make the playoffs, he was ineligible due to his lack of PGA Tour status. This season is a different story, as his spot at East Lake is all but locked up.
“You know, I don’t play this game for money,” he said when asked what he’d do with the $18 million dollars that goes to the winner of the Tour Championship. “Obviously, like I said, my career goal is to be a PGA Tour winner and a major champion at some point and the money comes with it.”
Zalatoris finished 77th at the 2021 Rocket Mortgage, stumbling over the weekend (74-76) after playing his first 36 holes 6 under. He enters as one of the favorites sitting at +1500, behind only Patrick Cantlay (+1000).
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