Will Zalatoris

Will Zalatoris Bio

William Patrick Zalatoris (born August 16, 1996) is an American professional golfer. He has competed primarily on the PGA Tour, where he has won once, at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship. He also has three runner-up finishes in major championships, the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship, and the U.S. Open, all achieved within a span of fourteen months. Standing 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) and weighing 175 lb (79 kg), Zalatoris is regarded as one of the purest ballstrikers of his generation.

Early Life and Background

Zalatoris was born in San Francisco, California on August 16, 1996, to Catherine and Richard Zalatoris, and was raised as an only child. His parents worked in real estate. His mother was once a track and field athlete at the University of Oregon, specializing in middle-distance running. Both of his parents were recreational golfers, and his mother continued to play golf while carrying him until three weeks before he was born. He received his first plastic club when he was 18 months old.

Zalatoris learned to play the game at Mariners Point Golf Center in Foster City, California. His parents belonged to California Golf Club, where he played alongside his father. Also at Cal Club, he met 1964 U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi when he was six. Venturi gave him advice on his grip, although Zalatoris was unaware who Venturi was at the time. At age nine, Zalatoris moved with his family to Texas, and grew up at Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas. He often competed against fellow Dallas-area golfers Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler in junior tournaments.

Zalatoris attended Trinity Christian Academy in Addison, Texas, where he was a four-year letterman. In June 2014, he won the Texas Amateur Championship. He won the Trans-Mississippi Amateur in July, and two weeks later won the U.S. Junior Amateur, defeating Davis Riley 5 and 3 in the final. He had planned to attend Stanford University, but was offered the Arnold Palmer Scholarship by Jerry Haas to play for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Wake Forest University beginning in fall 2014. He majored in psychology, and would later return to Wake Forest after his surgery to finish the remaining elective courses and complete his degree.

Path to Professional Golf

As a Wake Forest student, Zalatoris won his first individual collegiate title at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate in October 2014, scoring 10-under to finish two strokes ahead of Denny McCarthy. In September 2015, he won the Rod Myers Invitational by one stroke. In July 2016, he won the Trans-Mississippi Amateur for the second time, and the Pacific Coast Amateur. He was chosen to represent the United States at the 2016 Arnold Palmer Cup, and won medalist honors at the General Hackler Championship in March 2017.

As a junior in 2017, Zalatoris was named ACC Player of the Year, All-ACC, First-Team GCAA All-American, and First-Team Golfweek All-American. He was also a Ben Hogan Award semifinalist and a Jack Nicklaus Award finalist. He was selected for the U.S. team in the 2017 Walker Cup alongside future PGA Tour winners such as Collin Morikawa. Zalatoris left school after his junior year to turn professional, finishing with a collegiate scoring average of 70.44, breaking the Wake Forest record of 70.87 set by Bill Haas.

Will Zalatoris Career

Early Career (2018-2020)

Zalatoris decided in December 2017 to forego his final semester and turn professional at the start of 2018. He made six starts on the PGA Tour in 2018, making only one cut. Towards the end of that year, he competed in qualifying school for the Web.com Tour but failed to advance past the first stage. With no status in 2019, he relied on Monday qualifying and sponsor exemptions on the Web.com Tour, later renamed the Korn Ferry Tour. He secured membership for the remainder of the 2019 season after a third-place finish at the LECOM Health Challenge in July, and finished 60th in points to earn full status for 2020.

Zalatoris’s first professional victory came in July 2020, when he won the TPC Colorado Championship by one stroke. The win was one of eleven consecutive top-20 finishes on the Korn Ferry Tour, and it moved him atop the Korn Ferry Tour points list. That status qualified him for the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club, where he aced the par-3 seventh hole during the first round, made the cut, and finished in a tie for sixth place alongside world number one Dustin Johnson, his first top-10 finish in a major championship. He secured Special Temporary Member status on the PGA Tour after a tied-16th finish at the Bermuda Championship in November 2020.

PGA Tour Breakthrough (2021-2022)

Top-15 finishes at the Farmers Insurance Open, the Genesis Invitational, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational early in 2021 moved Zalatoris into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, qualifying him for the 2021 Masters Tournament. He shot rounds of 70-68-71 to enter Sunday tied for second. Seeking to become the first debutant to win the Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, he shot a final-round 70 to finish solo-second, one stroke behind winner Hideki Matsuyama. At the 2021 PGA Championship in May, he finished tied-eighth. He was then voted PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for the 2020-21 season, becoming the first special temporary member to win the award since Charles Howell III in 2001. In October 2021, he shot a career-low 11-under 61 at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

In January 2022, Zalatoris was tied for the lead of the Farmers Insurance Open after 72 holes alongside Luke List, losing in a sudden-death playoff. He shot a final-round 67 to finish tied-sixth at the 2022 Masters Tournament. Two weeks later, he finished runner-up for the second time in a major at the 2022 PGA Championship, losing to Justin Thomas in a three-hole aggregate playoff at Southern Hills Country Club. The following month, at the 2022 U.S. Open, he tied Scottie Scheffler at 5-under, one stroke behind winner Matt Fitzpatrick at The Country Club, marking his third runner-up finish in a major.

In August 2022, Zalatoris won his first PGA Tour event at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, defeating Sepp Straka in a playoff. The event was the first leg of the 2022 FedEx Cup Playoffs, and the victory moved him to first in the FedEx Cup standings. He withdrew from the following week’s BMW Championship due to a back injury, and from the Tour Championship the week after, where he was seeded third. The injury was later diagnosed as two herniated discs, originating from a swing at the 2021 Open Championship. He stated that the pain was at times unbearable.

Recovery and Return (2023-Present)

Zalatoris returned from his disc herniation in January 2023 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, finishing tied-11th, and followed it with a fourth at the Genesis Invitational in February. He was approached by LIV Golf, but chose to remain on the PGA Tour. He withdrew shortly before the 2023 Masters Tournament after jarring his back while warming up, and announced a few days later that he had undergone a successful microdiscectomy to address his herniated discs, missing the remainder of the 2022-23 season. He was unable to swing a golf club for five months. During recovery, he and his coaches reworked his swing to address the excessive sidebend that had strained his back.

In January 2024, he returned to the PGA Tour at the Sony Open in Hawaii, missing the cut. He finished runner-up at the Genesis Invitational in February, the first time he was in contention to win since the surgery. He finished tied-ninth at the 2024 Masters Tournament, but did not record another top-10 finish for the rest of the year. Zalatoris underwent a second back surgery in May 2025 after an MRI following the 2025 PGA Championship showed that he had re-herniated two discs. He returned to competition in December 2025 at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa, finishing 15th. In January 2026, he returned to the PGA Tour at The American Express, finishing tied-18th, and stated that his previous back surgery involved a disc replacement and that he was now playing pain-free. He withdrew from the Cognizant Classic in February due to an ankle injury, and in May 2026, was sidelined due to a partial tear of the hip labrum.

Driving Style and Strengths

Zalatoris has long been regarded as one of the best ballstrikers in the world, known for his accuracy, workability, and composure under pressure. His recovery from back surgery required a careful reworking of his swing to reduce excessive sidebend, with the goal of preserving his natural ballstriking while protecting his back. His approach to course management and his short-game touch around the greens have helped him remain competitive in the deepest fields.

Notable Events and Milestones

Zalatoris made headlines at the 2020 U.S. Open with a hole-in-one on the par-3 seventh hole at Winged Foot during the first round. In 2021, he finished solo-second at the Masters Tournament, just one stroke behind Hideki Matsuyama. He won his first PGA Tour title at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship, defeating Sepp Straka in a playoff. During the 2021 Masters, actor Adam Sandler and others on social media noted his resemblance to the young caddy in Happy Gilmore, and Zalatoris later appeared in the 2025 sequel as a fictionalized version of that caddy.

Will Zalatoris Career Wins

Zalatoris has two professional wins: one on the PGA Tour and one on the Korn Ferry Tour. His PGA Tour victory came at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship, and his Korn Ferry Tour win came at the 2020 TPC Colorado Championship. He has also posted three runner-up finishes in major championships, the 2021 Masters Tournament, the 2022 PGA Championship, and the 2022 U.S. Open.

PGA Tour Highlights

Zalatoris’s lone PGA Tour win came at the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, where he defeated Sepp Straka in a playoff. The win moved him to first in the FedEx Cup standings. In addition to his major-championship runner-up finishes, he has recorded multiple top-10 finishes on tour, including a tied-sixth at the 2022 Masters and a runner-up at the 2024 Genesis Invitational.

Other Wins and Performances

His first professional victory came at the 2020 TPC Colorado Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour, won by one stroke. The win was part of eleven consecutive top-20 finishes that season. As an amateur, he won the 2014 U.S. Junior Amateur, the 2014 and 2016 Trans-Mississippi Amateur, and the 2016 Pacific Coast Amateur, and represented the United States at the 2016 Arnold Palmer Cup and the 2017 Walker Cup.

Will Zalatoris Family

Family Background and Racing Lineage

Zalatoris is the son of Richard and Catherine Zalatoris. His parents both worked in real estate, and his mother was a former track and field athlete at the University of Oregon, specializing in middle-distance running. His parents were recreational golfers who introduced him to the game at Mariners Point Golf Center in Foster City, California, and were members of California Golf Club. He is an only child, and grew up at Bent Tree Country Club in Dallas after the family moved to Texas when he was nine. He often competed against fellow Dallas-area golfers Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler in junior tournaments.

Personal Life

Zalatoris met his wife, Caitlin Sellers, while attending Wake Forest University. They became engaged in 2021 and married in 2022. He is a member of Maridoe Golf Club, located outside of Dallas, where he regularly plays golf with former NFL quarterback Tony Romo, whom he has described as a big brother. During his recovery from back surgery in 2023, Zalatoris returned to Wake Forest to complete his psychology degree, finishing the elective courses he had left incomplete when he turned professional a semester early in 2017.

2025 Season Performance

Zalatoris’s 2025 season was defined by ongoing back trouble and a return to surgery. After finishing tied-ninth at the 2024 Masters Tournament, he did not record another top-10 finish for the remainder of that year, and an MRI following the 2025 PGA Championship revealed that he had re-herniated two discs. He underwent a second back surgery in May 2025, and described the prior months as a period of progressively worse discomfort and instability in his back. At the time of the surgery, he was ranked 84th in the Official World Golf Ranking and had missed the cut in each of his last four major championship starts.

Following his recovery, Zalatoris returned to competition in December 2025 at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, a no-cut event in South Africa, where he finished 15th. The appearance marked his first competitive start since his second back surgery, and offered an early sign that he was on the mend. He carried that momentum into January 2026, when he returned to the PGA Tour at The American Express and finished tied-18th. He stated that his previous back surgery had involved a disc replacement, and that he was now playing pain-free for the first time in years.

Looking ahead, Zalatoris will look to build on the encouraging signs of late 2025 and early 2026. His swing coach Troy Denton noted in 2024 that, in layman’s terms, Zalatoris had an old man’s back, but the swing rework completed during recovery was designed to reduce the excessive sidebend that caused the original strain. If he can stay healthy, the combination of his ballstriking pedigree, major-championship experience, and a reworked swing gives him a clear path back into contention. The 2025 season was a difficult one, but his return to competitive golf late in the year suggests a foundation to build on in the seasons to come.