The First Look: 2018 John Deere Classic

JACKSON, Miss. — Will Zalatoris felt like he couldn’t miss on the green and rarely did Friday in setting the course record with an 11-under 61 to share the lead with Nick Watney and Sahith Theegala in the Sanderson Farms Championship. RELATED: Leaderboard | Will Zalatoris inspired by U.S. Ryder Cup win Zalatoris, voted the PGA TOUR rookie of the year despite not having full status last year, made it look so simple at the Country Club of Jackson that his longest putt for par was 3 feet. One of the poorer shots he hit was on the par-5 third hole after making the turn. He hit a weak fade into a bunker some 30 yards away and blasted out to 3 feet, turning a difficult shot into yet another birdie. “The days where I make 20-footers, those are the days that I end up putting a great round together, because I’m always going to be the guy that’s going to hit 14 plus greens to give myself chances,” Zalatoris said. Watney, coming off his worst season in a decade, backed up a solid start with another good round. He opened with four birdies in six holes and dropped only one shot on his way to a 66. Theegala also held his own after opening with a 64, new territory for the California rookie in just his second start as a PGA TOUR member. He chipped in for eagle on the par-5 third hole to right back in the mix. Theegala finished with a 30-foot birdie putt for a 67. They were at 13-under 131 in what figures to be a week of low scoring. The cut was at 5-under 139. Among those who missed was Sergio Garcia, the defending champion playing a week after a draining Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland took two shots from behind the ninth green on his final hole and made bogey for a 73 to miss the cut by one. Zalatoris had a remarkable rookie season, boosted by a tie for sixth in the U.S. Open last September and tying for second in the Masters. All that’s left is to win. “I’ve gotten asked a lot, ‘What are your goals for this year?’ And besides winning a golf tournament, I really don’t have any,” he said. “Of course, everyone has goals of trying to be on a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup. I would be lying if I said I don’t have a little fire in my belly after missing out and watching guys that I grew up with playing as a part of Team USA.” Playing on sponsor exemptions last year, he still finished No. 22 in the Ryder Cup standings. Watney hit only two fairways, though not by much and he was rarely out of position. “It didn’t seem that stressful. That sounds really stressful, but it wasn’t that stressful,” he said. “For the most part I kept it in the right spot on the greens and I made a few kind of bonus putts that you might not expect to make. So those are always fun.” Cameron Young and Hayden Buckley each shot 65 and were one shot out of the lead. Roger Sloan of Canada shot 67 and was two behind. Sam Burns, who was seriously considered as a pick for the Ryder Cup, was among those three shots behind.

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Sam Burns was 10 days away from celebrating his first birthday when David Toms picked up his breakthrough win on the PGA TOUR. Toms was 30 years old that Sunday when he won the 1997 Quad City Classic and about to become a father for the first time. His son, Carter, and Burns would go on to become good friends, playing baseball and later golf together while growing up in Shreveport, Louisiana. “He’s spent a lot of time around the house, gone on vacations with us, played a lot of PlayStation upstairs,â€� Toms recalls. “Just watched them grow up — and watched him become a great golfer.â€� The two boys went to Louisiana State, Toms’ alma mater, although Burns had the most collegiate success, winning the Jack Nicklaus Award as the nation’s top collegiate golfer as a junior before turning pro that year. And even now, in his second season on TOUR, Burns has the former PGA Championship winner’s ear. “It’s great,â€� Burns says. “You can’t put a price on that — just having somebody who’s been on here for however long he has, 20-plus years, he’s had an incredible career, major winner, he’s won out here 13 times or so. “So just to be able to see it firsthand and then be able to talk to him about it, that’s really a really special for me and I think it’s something that he enjoys talking about. Yeah, it’s been very beneficial for me.â€� Ask when the two first met, and neither man is exactly sure. Toms thinks it might have been at Dixie Ball Park at a youth baseball game. Burns seems to remember attending a youth golf clinic Toms was giving when he was maybe 6 or 7 years old. One thing Burns is clear on, though, is driving three hours from Shreveport to Fort Worth, Texas, to see Toms win the Crowne Plaza Invitational. It was his 13th – and turned out to be his last — PGA TOUR victory and came a week after Toms lost a playoff to K.J. Choi at THE PLAYERS Championship. Burns, who got engaged last week at the RBC Heritage, lists that win at Colonial Country Club as his favorite golf memory in his PGA TOUR bio. “I just remember there was a big buzz about him playing,â€� he says. “… Everybody kind of knew he was playing well, and you knew that was good golf course for him. One of the things I remember was I was watching when he holed the wedge for eagle. That was pretty cool to see. “And I just remember everybody was really excited to watch and, you know, as a 14-year-old kid watching any PGA TOUR player, much less a guy that you knew, in contention that it was just a really special moment.â€� Toms remembers Carter and Burns coming to New Orleans to see him play in what is now known as the Zurich Classic. He took them into the locker room and introduced them to some players, including Rickie Fowler. Burns plays in the same tournament this week with his partner Cameron Champ. “It was fun and I’m sure that’s been good for Sam being around professional golf even before he was playing amateur golf,â€� Toms says. “So, I’m sure he feels pretty comfortable in that situation.â€� Toms remains a valuable resource for Burns now that he’s in his second year on TOUR. Sometimes the questions are as specific as how to play a particular hole. Or, he might ask Toms about scheduling or whether a certain golf course would suit his game. “I mean, anytime I have any questions about a golf course, there’s probably a 99 percent chance he’s played it if it’s out here,â€� Burn says. “So yeah, I’ve leaned on him for stuff like that for sure.â€� “He’s a great kid,â€� Toms says. “He’s comes from a good family. So, he has a lot of good advice already, but I think it’s probably a good thing for him that somebody like me, that he’s close to has, you know, done this for a long time. “He’s got the golf thing figured out. You know, it’s more just about, you know, how to do this, how to do that. I mean, he can hit every shot, but … he’s just trying to learn as much as he can.â€� When Toms was growing up in Shreveport, he looked up to another of Louisiana’s favorite sons, Hal Sutton, who is eight years older. Sutton won 14 times on the PGA TOUR, including THE PLAYERS Championship and PGA in his signature 1983 season. “What he did for me and all the guys my age, was give us something to shoot at, you know, local guy playing great,â€� he says. “And I think I was probably able to do the same thing for Sam and a bunch of the kids that grew up in our area.â€� The 52-year-old Toms is now a regular on PGA TOUR Champions. He picked up his first victory on the circuit last year at the U.S. Senior Open – with Carter carrying his bag on Thursday and Friday after Toms’ regular caddie, Scott Gneiser, had chest pains and had to be taken to the hospital. Burns keeps tabs on how his friend is playing on the 50-and-over circuit. And he’s grateful for all Toms’ advice – and says the best has been to trust himself. “Just play my game and just believe in what you’re doing,â€� Burns says. “I think you can get out here and kind of get sidetracked and wondering what everybody else is doing, how they’re playing and all that. “So, I think one of the things that he’s really tried to tell me it was just be yourself and just kind of focus on what I have going on.â€�

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