Will Zalatoris became emotional and shared that he faced a family loss this week while talking to the media after achieving a T2nd position at the Genesis Invitational. The 27-year-old American played an excellent tournament. He is pleased with his performance, but the fact that he lost a family member has triggered a wave of emotions for him. Zalatoris made an effort to give his best after learning about such news. Playing under such emotions is indeed extremely challenging. In the end, this amazing golfer emphasized the importance of appreciating every moment, considering that life is short.
The death of a family member is certainly one of the worst things in anyone’s life, including that of this brilliant sportsman. However, Zalatoris has learned an important lesson from it.
“Yeah, pretty excited obviously where my game’s headed. I didn’t say anything all week, but I – sorry,” Zalatoris said, as reported by golfmonthly.com
“I lost a family member on Thursday and she was – so she was with me all week. You know, was pretty special on Friday to make the hole-in-one after – sorry. Pretty special to make the hole-in-one on Friday after I found out on Thursday. She was with me all week.
It was very unexpected. This whole week was for her. My family can’t be here no matter what would have happened, but very proud of how I played.
Just shows you life’s short and appreciate the moments, how lucky I am to be out here.”
Will Zalatoris and his return: Every week I’ve been getting better
Zalatoris returned in December after an eight-month hiatus due to injury. Making a comeback after such hard moments is extremely difficult. It is necessary to give your best and stay focused to return to the big stage.
Will Zalatoris© Harry How / Getty Images Sport
Zalatoris knew it wouldn’t be easy, but this result gives him great optimism for even better things in the upcoming period. He felt a progression week by week, and it was only a matter of time before he made a breakthrough and achieved a positive outcome. He emphasized that this performance serves as excellent preparation for the upcoming Majors.
“Every week I’ve been getting better, so I knew I just got to keep doing what I’m doing,” he said.
“I’ve got a lot of silver in my house so getting another second place doesn’t really sit that well, but obviously coming back from what I had to go through physically, you know, we’re in the right direction. The goal today, this is really good preparation for the Majors coming up.”
If you want to become good at something, it is crucial to adapt at times. If you lack the ability to adapt, your chances of achieving excellent results are slim. Zalatoris was aware of this. Fortunately for him, he adapted in a phenomenal way, proving that he is indeed a golfer deserving to be at the very top.
Zalatoris is happy that he can make changes to his golf game while competing at a high level. This allows him to fully commit to those changes and work on improving his skills. He mentions that, despite hitting some good putts, he had difficulty reading certain putts, especially when the ball was above the hole or on slow uphill slopes. Despite these challenges, he feels that his game is heading in the right direction, with steady improvement each week, making him more comfortable.
If he continues to play at the same pace, there is no doubt that many bright moments are ahead of him. Considering that we have had the opportunity to follow his performances from year to year, it is clear to us that Zalatoris has the potential to achieve great things. The most important thing for him at this moment is to avoid injuries. Zalatoris must now establish a certain consistency in his performances.
Zalatoris believes he is progressing faster than expected and is pleased with the overall state of his game. He appreciates the nuances of golf, acknowledging that it’s a sport where even being beaten by someone who shoots exceptionally well, like Hideki’s 62 on Sunday, can be a valuable learning experience.
At the beginning of last month, after not-so-great performances, Zalatoris emphasized that the most important thing for him at the moment is to get back into rhythm. After the Genesis Invitational, we can be sure that Will is on the right track towards that.
“For me, not getting stuck on those bad weeks and getting back into the rhythm week in, week out, I think is something I’m really looking forward to,” Zalatoris said.
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