Will Zalatoris is almost completely new to St Andrews and the Old Course – but he’s all in already.
The young American hope, second in majors three times in the last two years, loves all the spectacle and traditions of St Andrews. Especially the four-legged variety.
‘Walking with 60 people and their dogs’
St Andrews 'exceeds all expectations' for @WillZalatoris#The150thOpen pic.twitter.com/kiQ7NyuqKC
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 12, 2022
“I didn’t need much more excitement than obviously playing on Saturday and walking down fairways with people and their dogs and everything,” he said “Just a very casual day. It’s pretty special.
“You have Augusta National, which is obviously one of the premier, most private places in the world. And then you come here, and I’m walking down fairways with 60 people and their dogs.
“Obviously this week is much more kind of the “people’s tournament”. I think it’s very cool seeing the two opposite sides, and I love them both equally.
“Some of the locals have trained their dogs to sit right by the tee marker even when they play. I need to start working on Luna, my dog, to start doing that.”
Beyond that, Will has filled his yardage book with notes. “I’ve written more in my yardage book over the last four days than I think I have in my entire career,” he laughed.
“In modern golf courses, parkland courses, you’re trying to basically hit fairways and you’re not worried about angles,” he said. “Here, you do have to worry about that.
‘Once you think you’ve got it figured it out, you don’t’
What are the odds?!?@WillZalatoris' chip shot miraculously ended up right on @MattFitz94's ball marker 😲 pic.twitter.com/OUeFmBT4xW
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 7, 2022
“There’s some spots where missing it in one spot is great for some pin (positions) and it’s atrocious for other pins. So being able to figure that out obviously throughout the week has been a great challenge and has been very interesting.
“Once you think you’ve got it figured out, you don’t. We’ve had pretty much the same wind, or at least coming from generally the same direction. But I know that a lot of holes obviously will play different depending on which direction.
“I’ve gotten some help from a few local friends (Will is good mates with Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre). It’s been obviously a treat.”
Off the course, Zalatoris isn’t hiding away either.
“Everyone said that the buzz of the town, that there’s just nothing like it. But it just exceeds all expectations. The locals walking down fairways with us, just meeting people. Even though obviously I’m a long way from home, I feel like I’m kind of around a lot of people that I know.”
‘An inch and a half’
— Will Zalatoris (@WillZalatoris) June 30, 2022
Zalatoris only gave best to Matt Fitzpatrick at the US Open last month when a final putt burned the hole. He feels he was “an inch and a half” away from three majors.
“My first second-place finish at the Masters, it was such an incredible experience that it was kind of an arrival,” he said. “The second one was affirmation. And the third one, it really gave me a lot of belief that I can be as good as I want to be.
“I would pay a lot of money for about an inch and a half in those three majors considering that I’ve basically missed out on three majors by three shots.
“It’s something that has fuelled my fire for sure. I know that eventually I’m going to get (a major) one day. We’ve been this close.
“I’m not even in double digit majors yet. I think I’ll take that resume now, but obviously I’d like to replace some of the silver medals with some gold medals.”