After a year without golf for Will Zalatoris, his first three tournaments back have been a roller coaster ride. In the Hero World Challenge, Zalatoris returned to professional golf in a field of 30 of the world’s best players including Tiger Woods. Zalatoris finished behind Woods, one of two players to do so, in dead last with a +11 after four rounds.
The next tournament to feature Zalatoris was the beginning of his 2024 campaign at the Sony Open in Hawaii where he missed the cut at -2, shooting a 76 on day one, followed by a 69, putting him at +5 after two days. Zalatoris was able to bounce back last week at the American Express Open, where he finished tied for 34th finishing with an impressive -18 after four rounds of golf, shooting in the 60s every day.
After withdrawing from the Masters in 2023 and undergoing back surgery to correct two herniated discs in his back, Zalatoris is looking for a big comeback this year. Zalatoris has seen most of his success in big tournaments, with two top-ten finishes in both the U.S. Open and the Open Championship — as well as a top-ten finish in the Masters. Zalatoris’ only win on the PGA so far was the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August, 2022.
Now, after gaining some momentum last week in La Quinta, California, Zalatoris has his eyes set on The Farmers Insurance Open in La Jolla, California. The last time Zalatoris played in this tournament, he missed an 8-foot putt to win outright and ended up losing in a playoff to Luke List — it should be noted, the playoff took place at night.
With his momentum from last week and a fanbase eager to see the talented golfer back on top, this feels like a tournament made for Zalatoris to win. The tournament started today, Wednesday, January 24th, and Zalatoris is off to a rocky start finishing at +1, but it wouldn’t be the first time he’s turned things around after the first round.
In the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship, Zalatoris shot a 71 on the first day. Zalatoris went on to shoot a 63, 65, and 66 in the following three days in 2022 and finished -15, beating Sepp Straka in a playoff. Zalatoris may just make magic happen again and claim that win at Torrey Pines that just slipped away two years ago.
