William Patrick Zalatoris (born August 16, 1996) is an American professional golfer who competes on the PGA Tour. He won the 2020 TPC Colorado Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour and finished runner-up in the 2021 Masters Tournament in his debut there.
Zalatoris was born in San Francisco, Calif. Representing Trinity Christian Academy in Addison, a suburb of Dallas, Texas, Zlatoris won the U.S. Junior Amateur title in 2014.
He attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina and was named the ACC Player of the Year in 2017. In his junior year, Zalatoris was named All-ACC, First-Team GCAA All-American, First-Team Golf Week All-American, Nicklaus Award finalist, Hogan Award semifinalist, competed in all 12 events and had a scoring average of 70.14; third-best season average in school history.
He was also a member of the 2017 U.S. Walker Cup team, teammates with future PGA Tour winners Collin Morikawa and Cameron Champ. He left school after his junior year to turn pro.
Zalatoris turned pro in 2018, but didn't make it past the first level of the Korn Ferry Tour Q School.
He secured membership for the remainder of the season on July 7 after a tie for third place at the LECOM Health Challenge and finished the regular season in 60th place in points, earning full status for the 2020 season.
Zlatoris' first professional victory came in July 2020 when he narrowly won the TPC Colorado Championship by one stroke. The victory moved him to the top of the Korn Ferry Tour points list and qualified him for the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
At the U.S. Open, he won the par-3 seventh hole in the first round and repeated it nearly six holes later to finish sixth alongside Dustin Johnson, the world's No. 1 player, at five over par.
It was his first top-10 finish in a major championship. He followed that with a T8 at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship and secured Special Temporary Member status after the Bermuda Championship in early November.
In April 2021, Zatoris was runner-up in the Masters Tournament with a score of 9-under par, finishing one stroke behind champion Hideki Matsuyama, the first male Japanese player to win a major. Zalatoris was named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2020-21 season.
In October 2021, Zalatoris shot his best round (61) on the PGA Tour at the Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Mississippi.
In January 2022, Zatoris took the lead at the Farmers Insurance Open after 72 holes. He lost a sudden-death playoff to Luke List when List hit his approach shot one foot from the first playoff hole and made birdie.
In May 2022, Zulatoris finished runner-up in a major championship for the second time. He lost to Justin Thomas in a playoff at the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In June 2022, Zatoris finished second in another major championship. He finished with Scottie Scheffler at the US Open behind Matt Fitzpatrick at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
On August 14, 2022, Zalatoris won his first PGA Tour event, winning the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, on the third playoff hole against Sepp Straka.
The event was the first of three in the 2022 FedEx Cup Playoffs, and Zlatoris' victory moved him ahead of Scottie Scheffler into first place in the FedEx Cup standings.
[Source: Wikipedia]
Previous article in the series: Xander Schauffele
Next article in the series: Justin Thomas