Will Zalatoris had quite the year.
He came close to winning three times in 2022, including two major championships, before finally breaking out for his first victory on the PGA Tour at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events.
The Wake Forest product has also been a great voice for the Tour since the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series began to pry some of the game’s biggest names who sought paychecks over legacy.
Disappointingly, Zalatoris’ season came to a screeching halt at the BMW Championship when he sustained two herniated disks during the third round.
After a brief period of optimism that he may be able to play in the Tour Championship the following week, he announced he would not only miss the chance to play for the $18 million first-place prize, but would be unavailable for the Presidents Cup.
Zalatoris wasn’t one of the six automatic qualifiers, but he was expected to be one of Davis Love III’s captains picks.
Before his injury and maiden win, the 26-year-old sat down with Graham Bensinger to discuss LIV Golf, Rory McIlroy’s leadership, playing with Tiger Woods, growing up with Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth and struggles after leaving college.
On LIV Golf: ‘I’ve never done this for money, ever.’
“If you look at the guys who have gone, and I’ve got no problem with the guys going. Everyone can make their own decisions,” he said. “A lot of them are older, or they’ve been injured, or they’ve been on the road for 20-plus years. They don’t wanna do it anymore and they wanna play for a couple more years and get a nice nest egg and call it quits.
“I’ve never done this for money, ever. If the U.S. Open had a $100,000 purse, I’d still show up to the U.S. Open. I’m in this to go win a major – that’s my career goal.
“There’s no amount of money that I would give to trade that for a trophy.”
Full answer:
The putt that didn’t drop
Will Zalatoris reacts after missing a putt on the 18th green during the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Down a single stroke to Matt Fitzpatrick at The Country Club, Zalatoris had a downhill, left-to-right slider for birdie on the 72nd hole to force the 2022 U.S. Open into a playoff.
It just didn’t fall.
“It stopped breaking and it’s one of those that sits in your mind every day at practice,” he said.
“Three…
..
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Golfweek…