It has been 30 years since a player with a last name starting with “Z” won a PGA Tour event – specifically, Canada’s Richard Zokol at the 1992 Greater Milwaukee Open.
Will Zalatoris nearly ended that drought at the Farmers Insurance Open before losing the first hole of the playoff to Luke List.
Even so, Zalatoris’ breakthrough win on the PGA Tour seems imminent. He now has consecutive top 10 finishes and also has a couple of top 20 finishes in his first seven starts this season, proving that last year’s runner-up at The Masters was no fluke.
Meanwhile, he can go really low, having set course records twice this season – an 11-under 61 in the second round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson, and an 11-under 61 during the second round of The American Express on the Nicklaus Tournament Course.
Just as telling, he leads the Tour in Strokes Gained: Tee to Green (2.094 strokes per round) and Strokes Gained: Approach the Green (1.237) and is ranked fifth in Strokes Gained: Total (1.899). Ranked 17th in the FedExCup standings, Zalatoris had planned to enter the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am until forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid-19.
If he keeps up the good play once he returns, it’s only a matter of time until he becomes the eighth golfer overall with a last name starting with “Z” to become a Tour winner.
No surprise who has the most wins of that group – Fuzzy Zoeller. The two-time major winner has 10 career TOUR wins, his last one coming in 1986. Larry Ziegler, Kermit Zarley and Al Zimmerman each have three wins apiece, while Zokol, Steve Zappe and Eldred Zimmerman have one win each.
At age 25, Zalatoris is making a splash and playing his way into contention on a regular basis. He’s also making a run at a spot on this year’s United States roster at the Presidents Cup; he’s currently 13th in points as of February 1. The only time he finishes last now is when player introductions are made in alphabetical order.
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