Will Zalatoris, the 25-year-old DFW-native golfer, secured his first PGA Tour victory on Sunday, knocking off Sepp Straka in a three-hole playoff at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis.
After several near wins, Zalatoris is no longer the highest-ranked golfer on the PGA Tour without a victory.
Zalatoris was the runner-up to Hideki Matsuyama in the Masters last year and suffered playoff losses at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open and Southern Hills in the PGA Championship earlier this year. In June, a narrowly missed 15-foot putt kept Zalatoris from forcing a playoff at the U.S. Open.
“It’s hard to say, ‘About time,’ when it’s your second year on tour, but it’s about time,” Zalatoris said. “Considering all those close finishes, it means a lot.”
Sunday’s win appeared to be out of Zalatoris’ reach again after he found a fairway bunker on the 18th in regulation. However, he recovered and made a 10-footer for par for a 4-under 66.
Straka, who played bogey-free over the final 13 holes in regulation, narrowly missed a 20-foot birdie putt for the win on the 18th for a 67. Both finished at 15-under 265 overall.
The playoff featured three penalty drops in three holes, with neither player making a birdie.
The golfers each made par on the 18th on the first playoff hole. Then, as Straka said after the loss, things got “a little crazy.”
On the second playoff hole, on the 18th, Zalatoris went wide right off the tee, off the cart path, and a few feet from a boundary fence, leaving him no choice but to chip out. Straka barely cleared the water on the left but was just inside the hazard line.
Straka chose to take a penalty drop and hit into 7 feet, while Zalatoris hit his third shot to just inside 15 feet and made the par. Straka matched him, and they went to the par-3 11th for the third playoff hole.
Zalatoris watched the ball from his tee shot on the 11th hit the bank, then the rocks, and then bounce several times before coming to a rest next to the lip of grass. Zalatoris appeared to be in trouble, but Straka’s shot went wide right, took one bounce off the slope, one off the rocks, and went into the water.
Straka was forced to take a penalty drop, and his wedge from the drop zone went into the back bunker. He played his fourth shot out to 4 feet as Zalatoris was still going over his options.
Zalatoris weighed his options on how to get off the rocks before wisely deciding to take the penalty drop.
“Considering where Sepp was, and he had 4 feet for 5, there’s no reason for me to try that shot and make it bank right into the grass and go back in the water, and all of a sudden, I’ve lost the golf tournament,” Zalatoris said.
Zalatoris’ wedge from the drop zone landed at 7 feet, and he knocked in the putt on his next shot to clinch the win.
The Plano-native won a $2.7 million prize for his first PGA Tour win and moved into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time at No. 8.
He also secured the top spot in the FedEx Cup with the win, assuring him a reasonable opportunity to win the $18 million prize in two weeks.
