Zalatoris: Surely it’s not will, it’s when

  By Paul Gueorgieff

The plaudits went to Justin Thomas. The sympathisers were with Mito Pereira.

But the forgotten man was Will Zalatoris.

That’s not a criticism. That’s just the way sport is. It is harsh, but second is often described as nowhere.

It’s like horse racing. The winner is remembered, the runner-up is quickly forgotten.

Zalatoris finished second in the $US15 million PGA Championship in the United States last month after losing to Thomas in a three-hole playoff.

Pereira, on the other hand, looked the tournament’s winner for a long period but it all unravelled over the concluding holes and the Chilean had to settle for equal third.

All credit to Thomas. He played the three holes of the playoff in two under par. That’s an effort worthy of a winner.

Thomas is proven performer and hardened campaigner. Last month’s win was the second win by Thomas in a PGA Championship. The 29-year-old had previously won the tournament in 2017 and he has 15 wins on the PGA Tour.

Zalatoris, 25, on the other hand, has not won on the PGA Tour but has been compiling a good record in major championships.

Last month’s second in the PGA Championship was his second such placing in a major.  Last year he  finished second to Hideki Matsuyama of Japan in The Masters. Zalatoris also has two sixths and an eighth in majors.

In other words Zalatoris is racking up a good record without delivering the final blow.

What’s more he played some great shots on the final day of the PGA Championship on a course all players were finding difficult.

Zalatoris started the day three shots behind leader Pereira, but he birdied Nos 4 and 5 to pull even. Then his tee shot on the sixth hole caught a gust and bounded into the bushes that line the course. 

He took an unplayable lie but had to chip from the cart path, knocking that one to eight feet before holing the bogey putt. 

He bogeyed the next hole, as well, and was in trouble after his tee shot on the long, par three eighth hole bounded into the penalty area. His 30-yard pitch from thick rough came to rest eight feet from the hole and he sank that putt, as well.

Zalatoris bogeyed the 12th hole after a wayward drive but looked like he could pick up a shot on the difficult 16th after he hit his 215-yard approach to 25 feet. He three-putted instead, missing a four foot par putt. 

Short putts are the weakness for one of the tour’s best ball strikers, but Zalatoris made clutch putts on the final two holes to finish the 72 holes equal with Thomas at five under par.  

His world ranking rose to No 14 after the PGA Championship and he said afterwards: “I know I’m going to get one — just a matter of time.”

Couldn’t agree more.