Mid-range putts stumped the Tour pro. But now he swears there is only 1 drill

Make, make, miss, miss, miss, make, miss, miss, miss, make, make, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, Miss, miss, miss.

again!

Make, make, miss, miss, miss, make, make, miss, miss, miss, make, make, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, make, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, Miss, miss, miss.

again!

Make, make, miss, miss, miss, make, make, miss, miss, miss, make, make, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, make, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss, Missed, missed, missed.

winner!

call. Sorry, the intro is a little hard to navigate, but mid-range putts (10 to 25 feet away) are exactly Will Zalatoris’ style. He was also frustrated. It’s not just that he misses – it’s that he regularly puts himself in that range, or better yet, as one of the best hitters in professional golf, he misses. Imagine what Zalatoris would be like if he were a little better.

He has taken steps. After missing 2023 due to injury, he returned later that year with a broomstick putter that he believed could clear distances of 10 feet and within. On the PGA Tour last season, he ranked 166th among players on putts from 20 to 25 feet (8%); 170th from 15 to 20 feet (14.29%); and 46th from 10 to 15 feet (33.9%). ).

But what about Thursday’s first-round matchup at Sentinel Field, the tour’s season opener? He made a birdie from 20 feet. He made three birdies from 24 feet. He had six birdies from 22 feet. He made seven birdies from 9 feet. He made 11 birdies from 17 feet. He finished third in points gained in putting.

Kind. What happened?

A drill is key.

“Yeah, I think last year if you really think about it,” Zalatoris said, “I didn’t really play a lot of golf until I came back from injury in November and then I changed the putter to a broomstick. And still trying to figure out how to learn it, I had some good weeks and some bad weeks, but it took a lot of – I mean, it cleared everything within 10 feet, This is obviously usually a pet peeve of mine, but I feel like I need to do more like 10 to – 25 feet.

“So we did some really hard exercises, [coach] Josh Gregory and I, I don’t leave every day until I’m done, especially within 10 to 25 feet.

What is the drill? We tried to illustrate this in the first paragraph of this story.

“So, 30 putts, five 10-foot putts, five 12-foot putts, five 15-putts, five 17-putts, five 20-putts, I have to make 30 putts. 9 until you’re done. So basically, like the exercises we did, you look at the average number of strokes you get from those distances and then maybe try to increase that, maybe try to add one to the number of strokes you get, This makes it even more difficult, especially if you’re practicing on a practice green that I know is there.

“Obviously it paid off today. It was probably the best putt I’ve ever made from 10 to 25 feet. It’s a great way to start the year.

indeed. But it seems to take time. Scroll up to see Zalatoris’ data in the 10 to 25 foot range and consider that 9 out of 30 is 30%. For comparison, let’s look at how the leaders in these categories fared last year — Max Greyserman, 23 percent of his putts from 20 to 25 feet; Sam Burns, 31.09 percent ’s putts range from 15 to 20 feet; Hayden Springer’s putts range from 10 to 15 feet and hit 40.52 percent of the time.

Of course, Zalatoris’s efforts were only a round of 18 holes. But he was encouraged.

“It’s nice to be in a really good position and really good head room,” Zalatoris said. “Physically I feel great. We’ve done a lot of great work over the past four months.

Editor’s Note: GOLF.com recently published another story about Zalatoris titled “Will Zalatoris Gained 19 Pounds in 4 Months. But Not for the Reason You Think” – that article can be found Click here Or scroll below now.

***

Will Zalatoris’ season ended last year in mid-August at Colorado. That week, he tipped the scales at 163 pounds, a lean 6-foot-2 frame, fully aware he was going to get even thinner. It’s something he’s gotten used to, losing 5 to 10 pounds in the fall’s offseason.

It’s just that he doesn’t want to lose weight. Actually he wanted to get weight.

There are many more.

“I’m tired of people telling me my waist is 22 inches and stuff like that,” he said Thursday at the season-opening Sentinel event in Maui.

But it’s not just his lower back that’s a problem. Zalatoris needs to create better operating weight for himself in order to be able to maintain a high-level, high-speed game for three to four weeks in a row. The past few years have taught him that he doesn’t have the stamina to survive the intense season on the PGA Tour.

“If you look at my weeks in the year, my best weeks are always the first week in a period, I always like to play one week, two weeks, three weeks and build with the rhythm,” he said explain. “The tournament I won as a pro was probably around week three or four. It was just, by week three or four, my swing speed dropped a couple of miles an hour, and I really didn’t feel good. , I’m not driving well and it’s hard to play like this. It’s not about speed, it’s about speed. I need stability to make sure. To be able to do what I’m doing.

What he means is swing hard and don’t hurt yourself, which is a story Zalatoris has been playing out in recent years. The 28-year-old, who burst onto the scene with six top-10s in his first nine majors, battled a herniated disc in late 2022, ultimately withdrawing from the 2023 Masters and quickly underwent microdisc surgery Excision surgery. He spent several months recuperating before returning at the end of 2023.

Which brings us to the end of his season in Colorado, where he decided enough was enough. Zalatoris joined an exercise program with acting expert Damon Goddard and has been building muscle over the past four months, he first told reporters during an appearance in South Africa in December This was mentioned. When he stepped on the scale in Dallas before competing in this week’s Sentry event, he weighed in at 182 pounds: a gain of 19 pounds in just four months.

After starting the season at 8 under, he said the benefit of adding weight is that he feels like he’s maintaining the distance he’s looking for without swinging at “110 percent,” which reduces the risk of losing weight. body pressure.

“I think the best way I can describe how I feel compared to before I gained weight is I think I’m at 100 percent, but I still don’t feel great,” Zalatoris said. “I have to take a few days off and give my back a break or go through a series of treatments. Not anymore. It’s difficult when you limit your practice and then go out and play against the best players in the world. So now I think the beauty of it is I’m trying to do it for longevity, not distance. If you look at my numbers, they’re the same, but it feels better.

it’s a long journey feel much better For Zalatoris. He admitted Thursday that he felt as good as if he hadn’t even had surgery. While it remains to be seen how those changes will play out on the charts, the fact that he hasn’t had a cortisone shot – the pain-killing shot he’s relied on in recent years – since August is another sign that a quick fix is ​​expected to be Reality.

“I want to keep raising the ceiling,” Zalatoris said, “because I know if I try to hit the ball 300 yards here at 160 pounds, that’s not a recipe for longevity.”

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