Wake Forest Athletics
Will Zalatoris Grabs First Career Win
7/31/2020 11:20:00 AM | Men's Golf
Professional golf might have been put on hold for several months earlier this year because of the Coronavirus pandemic, but that didn't stop former Demon Deacon Will Zalatoris from competing at a high level during the Korn Ferry Tour break.
"Lanny Wadkins told me a long time ago that the best way to get better is to go out and play as much as possible," Zalatoris said.
So that's what he did in the months prior to the restart of the tour, hitting the links with his roommate Davis Riley and former Dallas Cowboy quarterback Tony Romo. The competition was fierce.
"The guys I play with, the beauty of it is that we're not nice to each other. We're trying to proverbially cut each other's throats out every time we play," Zalatoris said. "I've been lucky to be able to play with a lot of really good players.
"Tony Romo has become a wonderful friend and mentor. He's such a great friend. We have so many great conversations that will help my career. Playing with him and my roommate Davis Riley — it was hard to not stay sharp, in kind of a weird way."
Staying sharp had an impact, as Zalatoris returned from the four-month layoff with three-consecutive strong finishes — tying for sixth in the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass, tying for third in The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village and then coming in four in the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank.
"I was knocking on the door for three weeks straight," he said.
As he headed to Colorado for the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes, the mantra was clear.
"Let's go win this thing," Zalatoris said.
He did just that, taking the tournament in wire-to-wire fashion, fending off a late challenge from Chase Johnson. It was the first career professional tournament victory for Zalatoris.
"I made everything I looked at," Zalatoris said. "I only missed one putt inside of 10 feet all weekend. I went wire to wire. Chase Johnson shooting 63 the last day made me earn it, that's for sure.
"It didn't really sink in until I looked at my phone and I had 221 text messages. Maybe I did do something that was kind of important."
When the Korn Ferry Tour paused because of Covid-19, it left Zalatoris in a position he had been in well over a decade ago.
"It was bizarre at the start," he said. "I haven't not known when I was going to play again since I was 9-years old. I've always had a schedule for the next few months basically my entire golf career. To not know when I was going to play again was very bizarre.
"In Texas, we had been fortunate that it didn't affect us a lot in those early three months. I was able to play a lot. They shut down our range, but we were able to get out and play some. It wasn't that unusual for those early months. Play tournaments, play money games, play whoever, so for three months that was all I was able to do."
The Tour has been back since mid-June, but with a lot of changes. There's no fans in attendance, Covid tests are administered regularly, and there's sanitation and isolation expectations on the players.
"In a weird way, it's nice," Zalatoris said. "Everybody is buying in. There are no bad eggs. We really have to take care of ourselves. The PGA Tour set it up where if we get reckless, it falls on us. If a player is reckless, they can face disciplinary action. It's forcing everyone to buy in."
Zalatoris turned pro in December of 2017 after earning ACC Player of the Year and first team All-American honors earlier that year. He finished an incredible Wake Forest career with four tournament wins and 15 top-five finishes in 40 events played. He set a Wake Forest program record with a 70.44 career stroke average, surpassing Bill Haas' mark of 70.87 from 2001-04.
He still keeps up with the Old Gold & Black.
"I feel for the women's program," Zalatoris said. "Anytime you're No. 1 and have a chance to go for a title, that's just devastating. I know coach (Kim) Lewellen has done an incredible job since she's taken over. And I know our men's program has a ton of incredible players. I'm happy that Eric Bae is coming back. We're only going to be better this year.
"Both teams have some unfinished business. I wouldn't be surprised if next year we have two No. 1 programs in Winston-Salem."
